The Let Alliance Rental Index – December 2022
Posted by Ellie Dreisenstock on January 6, 2023
UK average rent drops for the first time in over a year.
The average rent in the UK is now £1,174. This is 0.1% lower than in November 2022 but 10.8% higher than 12 months ago.
Rents in the capital remain above £2,000, despite dropping 0.2% since last month. The average rent in London is now £2,007 PCM.
Excluding London, the average UK rent price remains at £977 – the same as last month’s figure and 9.4% higher than December 2021.
The North East has seen the largest monthly drop and remains the cheapest region to rent in – the average price has dropped 1.4% since November to £618.
Commenting on the latest data, CEO Andy Halstead said:
“The last month of 2022 saw the first drop in the average UK rental price for over a year (last time was November 2021), albeit a drop of just £1 month-on-month. Even in the face of a minor dip, rental prices remain historically high, including December 2022 being only the second month on record in which the average Greater London rental property has been priced higher than £2,000 PCM.
“The cost-of-living crisis is continuing to bite, and the current situation is offering little to ease the fears of landlords concerned about their tenants’ ability to pay their rent, an issue previously highlighted in our survey of over 1,000 landlords with Dataloft, where almost half (40%) named inability of tenants to pay their rent as their main fear for 2023.
“With this in mind, our prediction for 2023 is that rental prices will likely continue to rise, despite spiralling costs for tenants in other areas of their lives. Tenants struggling to pay their rent is sadly likely to become a recurring theme across the country, and in turn, this could lead to some landlords vacating an already struggling market. This will likely result in a continued shortage of rental properties to meet demand.”
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