Rents in England and Wales only increased by 0.2% during the month of March, the latest index has revealed.
The average rent in England and Wales went up to £800 per month in March, showing an increase of 4.6% year-on-year. On a more regional level, however, the growth of rental costs was quite diverse.
Rental price growth slows as landlords are reluctant to push them up
England’s East showed the highest regional growth at 7.4%, also making it the highest outside of London.
London as well as the country’s South East were among those seeing a drop in rental prices over the last year, hinting at people looking away from London for rental properties.
The average rental price in the capital in March was £1,203, a decrease of 6% month-on-month and 7.5% annually, Your Move’s buy-to-let index revealed.
Whilst London however remains expensive when it comes to renting a property, the usually sought-after South East dropped by 3.9% month-on-month and 0.9% yearly to an average of £845 per month.
The only other region which saw rents falling both annually and monthly was England’s North East. Prices up north currently average at £525 monthly, a drop of 3.7% month-on-month and 3.1% year-on-year.
Yorkshire and the Humber and the East Midlands also saw rents decreasing month-on-month, by 0.7% and 0.6% respectively.
The market’s solid rock has been Wales where prices increased both on a monthly and on a yearly basis.
UK regional rental prices: North West leading the way for yield and demand
On top of looking at rent changes, the report also had a closer look at yields. The average yield across England in March was 4.5% , a small decrease from February’s 4.6% and last year’s 5% yield. For Welsh landlords, the yield remained unchanged at 4.8%.
The report continues to point out that places with higher house prices continue to give their investors the lowest yields. These areas are being specified as London and the surrounding regions.
For savvy investors, the report points out England’s North as the area with the highest yields. The North East saw a typical return of 5.2% whilst the North West averaged out at 5%, making them the only two regions to achieve a yield over 5%.
