Regional Rental Prices Continue to Rise

London is hailed as the best rental market, but the regions continue to show strength.

Investors in the UK’s private rental sector are continuing to see strength outside London, with the regional markets nationwide robust, indicated in the way prices continued to rise in 2015.

According to the latest report released on the rental market by HomeLet, the last three months of the year in particular were strong for the regional rental sector, with no end of year drop in demand, meaning prices stayed on their upward trajectory across the country.

This is a trend likely to continue into 2016, with demand unlikely to fall off in the next few months thanks to the growth of generation rent and the real desire from people nationwide to live in attractive rental properties.

According to the HomeLet Rental Index, the end of 2015 saw the price of rental property across the UK reach an average of £739 when London is excluded. What this meant for the regional rental sector is that the price of renting grew by 4.9 per cent when compared to the same three-month period at the end of 2014.

Some of the best growth was seen across the south of the nation, with the south-east having welcomed growth in rental price of 7.1 per cent year on year. This was followed by the East Midlands with 6.4 per cent, East Anglia with 5.7 per cent and the south-west, where growth sat at 5.5 per cent.

But it wasn’t just in the south where prices were rising. Rental income has continued to grow in the north of the country as the increasing popularity of rental homes in cities like Leeds and Manchester continues.

For example, new tenancy prices for the final quarter of 2015 in Yorkshire were 3.2 per cent up when compared to the same three-month period a year before.

Brighton, Bristol and Newcastle were quoted as being among the main big cities across the nation where there were large rates of growth in the price of renting.

Martin Totty, chief executive officer of HomeLet parent company Barbon Insurance, said that what was indicated in the rental figures was that the market was far stronger in 2015 than it had been in 2014. This was shown by the fact that almost every single regional area outside of London saw growth in demand and prices, which could give those looking to invest the confidence that there is only more health to be seen in the sector moving forward.

This article has been provided by UK property agent Experience Invest who specialise in buy-to-let investments.