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14/7/25 8:13 pm
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Newly agreed rents in Great Britain fell -0.4% to £1,387 per month in the year to August.
This marked the largest annual fall post-Covid and the joint second-largest annual fall in rents since the Hamptons Lettings Index began in March 2011.
The cost of renting a home has been rising more slowly than inflation for nine consecutive months, reports Hamptons. Rents are now falling in four of the 11 regions with London - where rents have been decreasing on an annual basis in each of the last eight months - recording the steepest fall (-3%).
The average cost to a tenant of renewing their rental contract rose by 4.3%, making the monthly cost of renewing a tenancy £90 per month cheaper than moving into a new property.
Last month, the number of un-let homes on the market was 8% higher than the same time last year, with 4% fewer renters beginning their search. There were only 16% fewer homes on the market than during August 2019.
“What we’re seeing now is a real terms fall in rents – when inflation and wages outpace rental growth - which leaves tenants feeling better off,” says Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons (pictured right). “It’s a sign that the rental market is responding to wider economic pressures, and it could help ease the inflation headache for policymakers in the months ahead.”
Meanwhile, Zoopla reports that average rents are 2.4% higher than a year ago, the lowest annual rate in four years and less than half of that recorded 12 months ago. It now stands at £1,300 per month, up £30 over the last year.
Its latest Rental Market Report reveals that rental market conditions are the weakest they have been since 2020, with letting agents receiving 24% fewer enquiries from prospective tenants compared to a year ago.
Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark, comments: “A cooling in rental prices isn’t necessarily as detrimental for landlords, given that mortgage products have improved, providing those with buy-to-let tracker mortgages an easing in financial pressure, which can mitigate the impact or reduce rent rises.”
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