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UK hire progress accelerated in October with London registering the biggest enhance, in response to official knowledge that means extra ache for tenants after two years of rising prices.
Common personal rents elevated by 8.7 per cent within the 12 months to October 2024, up from 8.4 per cent within the 12 months to September 2024 and the quickest tempo since April, the Office for National Statistics mentioned on Wednesday.
Lease progress final month was solely marginally beneath the report excessive annual rise of 9.2 per cent recorded in March 2024.
“Headline rents are nonetheless rising, partly attributable to persevering with demand in addition to landlord gross sales forward of the Price range [last month],” mentioned Jeremy Leaf, a north London property agent.
He mentioned he had encountered appreciable resistance amongst tenants to paying greater rents given vital will increase in prices over the previous 12 months or so. “Because of this, in some instances, landlords have needed to regulate their expectations, though the general development continues upwards.”
Within the capital, the typical month-to-month hire hit a report excessive, rising to about £2,200 — the very best since knowledge assortment started in 2005. Earlier than UK inflation started to surge in October 2021, London hire was sometimes £1,700 a month. In contrast, the typical hire within the North East rose from just below £600 to below £700 over the identical interval.
Lease inflation in London stood at 10.4 per cent in October, up from 9.8 per cent in September.
A number one survey of property brokers, launched final week, discovered a pointy decline in landlord directions within the three months to October, indicating fewer landlords have been placing properties up for hire, including to stress on rental costs.
Landlords are dealing with greater rates of interest and prices, which have squeezed their margins. On the identical time, many households are struggling to save lots of for a deposit after the fast rise in home costs within the two years to 2022 and a surge in mortgage funds, which has pushed up rental demand.
Mortgage charges have elevated sharply since 2021 because the Financial institution of England raised rates of interest to curb excessive inflation. They’ve now come again from their summer time 2023 peak, supporting a restoration within the housing market, though they’ve risen once more in current weeks.
The ONS reported that common UK home costs elevated by 2.9 per cent, to £292,000, within the 12 months to September 2024 — an increase of two.7 per cent on the earlier month.
Nonetheless, within the capital, the place properties are the most costly and affordability is decrease, costs fell by an annual charge of 0.5 per cent in September to a median worth of £525,586. London has underperformed the remainder of the nation since 2016.
Holly Tomlinson, monetary planner on the wealth administration firm Quilter, mentioned: “Affordability stays a key theme all through the market, however first-time consumers face a very difficult panorama.
“With charges having gone up in the previous few months regardless of a minimize to the bottom charge, first-time consumers proceed to have the rug pulled from beneath them.”
