UK private rents rose 3.8 percent in the year to August to an average of £1,400, while UK house prices rose 1.4 percent in the year to July to £273,000, according to the latest Office for National Statistics data.
The two series cover different months, but the release puts the gap between rent growth and price growth in focus for landlords assessing a purchase, a refinance or the role of a property within a wider portfolio. The ONS also recorded a 0.2 percent month-on-month fall in the seasonally adjusted UK house price index for July.
Neither comparison is a yield calculation. The figures do not account for finance costs, repairs, tax, voids, property type or a landlord’s individual rent. The latest rent estimates and the first 12 months of house-price estimates remain provisional and can be revised.
Regional results split sharply
House-price growth was strongest in the North East, where values were up 4.9 percent year on year in July. London recorded the weakest annual result, with average values down 3.3 percent to £569,000. The North East and North West had the fastest annual rent growth in August, both at 5.8 percent.
England’s average private rent reached £1,459, up 4.0 percent year on year. In Wales it was £846, up 4.3 percent, while Scotland’s average was £1,013, up 1.1 percent. Northern Ireland’s rent figure is available only to June and is incorporated into the UK estimate using the ONS method for the latest months.
Alex Upton, Managing Director, Specialist Mortgages & Bridging Finance at Hampshire Trust Bank, said higher rents did not automatically mean stronger returns. He said landlords were reassessing where to deploy capital and looking more closely at the part individual properties played within a wider portfolio.
Jon Cooper, Director of Mortgages at Aldermore, said continued rental growth kept supply in focus, but landlords needed confidence to remain in the market and invest. His comments are the lender’s view of the operating environment, rather than a finding from the ONS data.
Headline rent growth does not settle an investment case
The latest figures are a useful comparison point, not an instruction to buy in a particular region. A property with rising rent may still produce a weaker return once borrowing and running costs are included, while slower price growth does not by itself establish better value.
This follows Landlord Knowledge’s August report on the previous ONS release, when UK rents were up 3.7 percent and averaged £1,393. The new data adds the slower house-price measure to that picture, rather than simply repeating the supply argument.
It also sits alongside Landlord Knowledge’s report on buy-to-let company formations, which found registrations had fallen 8 percent by August. Together, the two reports underline that rental growth is only one input into a landlord’s decision to add to a portfolio.
What this means for landlords
- If you are comparing purchases: test rents against finance, tax, maintenance and vacancy assumptions rather than treating the 3.8 percent UK figure as a yield forecast.
- For regional portfolios: compare local rent and value movements separately. The North East and London figures point in very different directions, but neither is a property-level appraisal.
- Watch for: the next ONS release on 21 October and revisions to the provisional rent and house-price series.
- Bottom line: rents are rising faster than average house prices, but the data does not show that every landlord’s return has improved.
Editor’s view
Rising rents make an easy headline, but they are not a substitute for a full investment appraisal. The latest ONS release is most useful when landlords put it beside their own costs, finance terms and local evidence.
Author: Editorial Team – UK landlord & buy-to-let news, policy, and finance
Published: 16 September 2026
Sources: Office for National Statistics, Hampshire Trust Bank comment, Aldermore comment
Related reading: ONS: UK rents rise 3.7% as landlord supply stays under pressure
