London's average rent soars above £2000
Asking rents in London have increased more than anywhere else in the UK, with the monthly rate hitting £2,000 in the second quarter of 2018 as a lack of new property available in parts of the city led to the time to find renters speeding up.
The capital’s rate rose by 3.4%, according to data from Rightmove released on Thursday, which was, after a period of slower growth in the big smoke, the first time that London rent rises were the highest in the UK since the end of 2014.
A 2.7% rise in asking rents for the rest of the country to an average £796 per month was the first rise in national rates since the second quarter of 2017.
Miles Shipside, Rightmove’s housing market analyst, said: “Competition among tenants for a great rental home can be very high in the most popular rental areas of the capital. This reduced choice could be symptomatic of fewer landlords buying and some selling up as rental returns are being diminished by more onerous tax, and little or no growth in capital appreciation, along with increased demand from tenants.”
Camberwell, Chessington, Peckham, West Wickham and West Norwood were the most in demand areas of London.
The top annual increases outside of Greater London were in Edinburgh, Margate, Liverpool, Bushey and Darwen, which all saw growth between 8% and 6.3%.
The nationwide annual rate of growth has slowed to 0.7% thanks to flat annual change in the South West and a drop of 0.4% in the South East.
“Outside London there looks to be more choice for tenants, but those looking to rent in the South West and Yorkshire and the Humber should note that properties are moving faster than this time last year so they may need to move more quickly to secure a good quality home,” said Shipside.