The average agreed rent for new tenancies in the UK ranged from *** British pounds to ***** British pounds, depending on the region. On average, renters outside of London paid ***** British pounds, whereas in London, this figure amounted to ***** British pounds. Rents have been on the rise for many years, but the period after the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this trend. Since 2015, the average rent in the UK increased by about ** percent, with about half of that gain achieved in the period after the pandemic. Why have UK rents increased so much? One of the main reasons driving up rental prices is the declining affordability of homeownership. Historically, house prices grew faster than rents, making renting more financially feasible than buying. In 2022, when the house price to rent ratio index peaked, house prices had outgrown rents by nearly ** percent since 2015. As house prices peaked in 2022, home buying slowed, exacerbating demand for rental properties and leading to soaring rental prices. How expensive is too expensive? Although there is no official requirement about the proportion of income spent on rent for it to be considered affordable, a popular rule is that rent should not exceed more than ** percent of income. In 2024, most renters in the UK exceeded that threshold, with the southern regions significantly more likely to spend upward of ** percent of their income on rent. Rental affordability has sparked a move away from the capital to other regions in the UK, such as the South East (Brighton and Southampton), the West Midlands (Birmingham) and the North West (Liverpool, Manchester, Blackpool and Preston).

Renting an apartment in Cambridge cost on average ***** British pounds per month in July 2025. This made it one of the most expensive cities for renters in the UK after London. In London region, the average rent amounted to ***** British pounds. According to the source, this figure shows the asking rent, adjusted for achieved rents. A comparison of the rent prices of different London boroughs shows that costs may vary by several hundred and even over a thousand British pounds. Looking at the regional prices, Northern Ireland, Wales, and the Northeast emerged as the regions with the most affordable rents.

Between 2008 and 2024, the average weekly rent for private renters in England has shown a significant increase. In the 2009, the average rent was 153 British pounds, and by 2024, it had risen to 237 British pounds. Excluding London, the average rent started at 130 British pounds in 2009 and reached 191 British pounds in 2024, demonstrating a similar upward trend but at a lower rate compared to the overall average in England. Rental households in England Renting is common in England. Nearly one in five households occupied a dwelling that was privately rented in 2024. While the majority of households in the country live in an owner-occupied home, this percentage has declined since the early 2000s. Meanwhile, the share of households occupying a private rental has doubled over the past decade. This shows a growing rental sector and a shift in tenure trends in the country. Buying vs renting costs For a long time, the average monthly costs of buying a home were lower than renting. In 2021, housing costs started to increase steeply, closely followed by rental costs. This resulted in the gap nearly closing in 2023. This trend can also be observed through the house price to rent ratio - an index that follows the development of house prices relative to rents, with 2015 as a baseline year. Between 2015 and 2022, the ratio grew steadily, indicating that property prices rise faster than rents. However, with rental growth accelerating and catching up with property prices in 2022, the index declined notably.

Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR) data chain-linked to Index of Private Housing Rental Prices. This is a historical series from January 2005 to February 2025.

The average monthly home rental payment in the United Kingdom (UK) increased steadily since 2008, reaching 1, 258 British pounds in December 2023. In comparison, the average home buying costs amounted to 1,231 British Pounds that year, meaning that homeowners saved 27 British pounds monthly from the difference.

Median monthly rental prices for the private rental market in England by bedroom category, region and administrative area, calculated using data from the Valuation Office Agency and Office for National Statistics.

This dataset contains detailed information about rental properties across various locations in the UK. The data was collected by scraping Rightmove, a popular real estate platform. Each entry in the dataset includes the property's address, subdistrict code, rental price, deposit amount, letting type, furnish type, council tax details, property type, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, size in square feet, average distance to the nearest train station, and the count of nearest stations.

Researchers and analysts interested in the UK rental market can utilize this dataset to explore rental trends, pricing variations based on location and property type, amenities preferences, and more. The dataset provides a valuable resource for machine learning models, statistical analysis, and market research in the real estate sector.

Metadata: Source: The data was collected by scraping the Rightmove real estate platform, a leading source for property listings in the UK. Date Range: The dataset covers rental property listings available during the scraping period. Geographical Coverage: Primarily focused on various locations across the UK, providing insights into regional rental markets. Data Fields: Address: The location of the rental property. Subdistrict Code: A code representing the subdistrict or area of the property. Rent: The monthly rental price in GBP (£) for the property. Deposit: The deposit amount required for renting the property. Let Type: Indicates whether the property is available for short-term or long-term rental. Furnish Type: Describes the furnishing status of the property (e.g., furnished, unfurnished, or flexible options). Council Tax: Information about the council tax associated with the property. Property Type: Specifies the type of property, such as apartment, flat, maisonette, etc. Bedrooms: The number of bedrooms in the property. Bathrooms: The number of bathrooms in the property. Size: The size of the property in square feet (sq ft). Average Distance to Nearest Station: The average distance (in miles) to the nearest train station from the property. Nearest Station Count: The count of nearest train stations within a certain distance from the property. Data Quality: The data may contain missing values or "Ask agent" placeholders, which require direct inquiry with agents or landlords for specific information. Potential Uses: The dataset can be used for market analysis, rental price prediction models, understanding property preferences, and exploring the impact of location and amenities on rental properties in the UK.

An experimental price index tracking the prices paid for renting property from private landlords in the United Kingdom

Rental price statistics historical data time series (indices and annual percentage change). These are official statistics in development.

Amount charged weekly by Local Authorities for social housing. Rents data are based on the financial year. Stock figures used to estimate the average for each county, region and the nation are taken at 1st April of the following financial year. Average rents data between 2003/04 and 2007/08 inclusively is based on total stock figures from Housing Revenue Account (HRA) audited base claim form. Before 2003/04 the average rents data is based on total stock figures from the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) second subsidy claim form. Rents data for 2008/09 are based on total stock figures as at the beginning of the financial year. This data is taken from the HRA subsidy base data form. Average rent data for this year are provisional and will be updated when stock data at the start of the following financial year become available. For a few authorities no rent figure is given because the stock is now very small and the authority no longer reports average rents. For some local authorities the average rent for 2003/04 is lower than in 2002/03. This may be due to some local authorities supplying net rents excluding service charges from 2003/04 onwards. Prior to 2003/04 some of them may have been including service charges in their rent figures. Average rent figures do not account for stock composition. 'LSVT': all or most of the local authority stock has been transferred to the RSL sector, so the average rent is no longer applicable. LSVTs are not taken into account when calculating county, regional or national averages. MYT (Mid-Year Transfer) refers to those authorities that have transferred their stock in full, part way through the financial year. Where a local authority has transferred part of it's stock mid-year, the stock figure used to estimate averages is taken as at 1st April the following financial year. MYT information is provided from 2003/04 onwards only. Prior to 2003/04 average rents figures may be based on stock figures at the start of the financial year prior to any mid-year transfer. The districts, unitary authorities and counties listed above are based on 1 April 1998 boundaries. Figures for any 'new' re-organised areas have been estimated retrospectively applying the new boundaries back to 1996. Average rents data for 2003/04 and onwards are based on a standardised 52 week collection. Data prior to 2003/04 may have been reported on various different collection scales. Average rent is calculated from stock-owning local authorities that have provided data. View Live Tables on Rents and Tenancies on DCLG website Average rents for council owned stock are reported in section H of the Local Authority Housing Statistics data

For the past decade, buying a home in the UK has been more affordable than renting one, when only considering the monthly costs. The renting versus buying gap fluctuated during the period and in 2016, it reached its highest value of 131 British pounds. In 2023, the monthly costs for a first-time buyer were 1,231 British pounds, compared to 1,258 British pounds for renters. Rental growth vs house price growth Housing costs in the UK have been on an uprise, with both renting and buying a home increasingly unreachable. Though the monthly costs of buying have consistently been lower in the past decade, house price growth has been much stronger than rental growth since the beginning of the pandemic. Additionally, buyers have been affected by the aggressive mortgage rate hikes, making acquiring their first home even less affordable. Barriers to homeownership Buying a home is not straightforward. For younger (18-40) potential first-time buyers, there are a number of barriers. Approximately one in three first-time buyers point out that raising a deposit was the main obstacle. Other reasons stopping buyers were not being able to take out a mortgage on their current income and poor credit ratings. Unsurprisingly, the highest share of people who buy a home with a mortgage was in the age group of 45 to 55-year-olds.

This is the mean (average) gross monthly rent in pounds for properties with one bedroom on the private rental market for the area, over a 12 month period. These are self-contained properties including houses, bungalows, flats and maisonettes. These statistics taken from the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) administrative database are simple price averages rounded to the nearest £1. The sample used to produce these statistics is not statistical and may not be consistent over time; as such, these data should not be compared across time periods or between areas. Housing Benefit claimants are not included in the sample.Data is Powered by LG Inform Plus and automatically checked for new data on the 3rd of each month.

Rent Inflation in the United Kingdom decreased to 4.10 percent in October from 4.30 percent in September of 2025. This dataset includes a chart with historical data for the United Kingdom Rent Inflation.

The Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR) has shown significant growth, reaching a value of 117.9 in January 2025. This marks an increase of approximately 17.9 percent since January 2023, reflecting a robust upward trend in rental prices. Notably, the index saw a steady rise throughout 2024, with an annual percentage change peaking at 9.2 percent in March 2024. Mainstream properties are forecast to see rents further increase until 2028.

Private Rental Prices in the United Kingdom decreased to 6 percent in September from 6.30 percent in August of 2025. This dataset includes a chart with historical data for the United Kingdom Private Rental Prices.

Amount charged by Registered Social Landlord (Private Registered Provider (PRP)) Average Weekly Rents for social housing. Data is collected by the Housing Corporation via the annual Regulatory and Statistical Return (RSR) based on general needs stock only. Figures are based on only the larger Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) completing the long form. Upto 2006 the threshold for completing the long form was that the RSL owned/ managed at least 250 units/bedspaces. From 2007 this increased to 1,000 units/bedspaces. The districts, unitary authorities and counties listed above are based on 1 April 1998 boundaries. Figures for any 'new' re-organised areas have been estimated retrospectively applying the new boundaries back to 1997 and making appropriate assumptions. Note that the average RSL rents within a local authority area can move down from one year to the next. This is especially true if, during the latest year, most of the LA stock has been transferred through a large-scale voluntary transfer to the RSL sector. Larger housing associations report the rent they charge in the HCA’s Statistical Data Return. Data in spreadsheet includes average weekly rents for housing association general needs properties by number of bedrooms, in London by borough (stock owned by larger associations only).

Amount charged weekly by Local Authorities for social housing.
Rents data are based on the financial year.

Stock figures used to estimate the average for each county, region and the nation are taken at 1st April of the following financial year. Average rents data between 2003/04 and 2007/08 inclusively is based on total stock figures from Housing Revenue Account (HRA) audited base claim form. Before 2003/04 the average rents data is based on total stock figures from the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) second subsidy claim form.

Rents data for 2008/09 are based on total stock figures as at the beginning of the financial year. This data is taken from the HRA subsidy base data form. Average rent data for this year are provisional and will be updated when stock data at the start of the following financial year become available.

For a few authorities no rent figure is given because the stock is now very small and the authority no longer reports average rents. For some local authorities the average rent for 2003/04 is lower than in 2002/03. This may be due to some local authorities supplying net rents excluding service charges from 2003/04 onwards. Prior to 2003/04 some of them may have been including service charges in their rent figures. Average rent figures do not account for stock composition.

'LSVT': all or most of the local authority stock has been transferred to the RSL sector, so the average rent is no longer applicable. LSVTs are not taken into account when calculating county, regional or national averages. MYT (Mid-Year Transfer) refers to those authorities that have transferred their stock in full, part way through the financial year.

Where a local authority has transferred part of it's stock mid-year, the stock figure used to estimate averages is taken as at 1st April the following financial year. MYT information is provided from 2003/04 onwards only. Prior to 2003/04 average rents figures may be based on stock figures at the start of the financial year prior to any mid-year transfer.

The districts, unitary authorities and counties listed above are based on 1 April 1998 boundaries. Figures for any 'new' re-organised areas have been estimated retrospectively applying the new boundaries back to 1996. Average rents data for 2003/04 and onwards are based on a standardised 52 week collection. Data prior to 2003/04 may have been reported on various different collection scales. Average rent is calculated from stock-owning local authorities that have provided data.

View Live Tables on Rents and Tenancies on DCLG website

Average rents for council owned stock are reported in section H of the Local Authority Housing Statistics data