HomeLet’s Rental Index figures for October 2018 have been released.

The headlines from this month’s report are:

• The average rent in the UK is now £928, up by 2.1 per cent on the same time last year
• When London is excluded, the average rent in the UK is now £768, up by 1.7 per cent on last year.
• Average rents in London are now £1,619, up by 4.0 per cent on last year.
• The region with the largest year-on-year increase is Northern Ireland, showing a 4.5 per cent increase between October 2017 and October 2018.
• The average rent in Scotland is £647, up 4.2 per cent on last year
• The region with the largest month-on-month variance is the South East, showing a 3.2 per cent decrease between September and October 2018.

Commenting on this month’s data, Martin Totty, chief executive at HomeLet, said:

“Average UK-wide rents continue to increase year-on-year broadly in line with the current rate of inflation and the growth in average wages, meaning affordability in most parts of the country is little-changed.

“The exception is London and the South East, where average rents have increased above both inflation and average wage growth. In contrast to house price trends in this region of the country, activity levels in the private rented sector remain resilient.

“Landlords committed to the sector here seem able to command higher rents, potentially providing some offset to the negative headwinds of taxation changes some will have experienced.”

As the UK’s largest tenant referencing firm, the HomeLet Rental Index provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date data on rental values in the UK.

The trends reported within the HomeLet Rental Index are brand new tenancies, which were arranged in the most recent period, providing an in-depth insight into the lettings market.