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).

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.

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.

Renting an apartment in Cambridge cost on average more than 1,500 British pounds per month in December 2023, making it the most expensive cities for renters in the UK after London. In London, the average rent ranged between 1,400 British pounds and 3,700 British pounds depending on the location. On the other hand, Northern Ireland, Wales, and North East were the regions with the most affordable rents.

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

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.

Rent Inflation in the United Kingdom decreased to 6.10 percent in May from 6.30 percent in April of 2025. This dataset includes a chart with historical data for the United Kingdom Rent Inflation.

Graph and download economic data for Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Rent of Primary Residence in U.S. City Average (CUUR0000SEHA) from Dec 1914 to May 2025 about primary, rent, urban, consumer, CPI, inflation, price index, indexes, price, and USA.

In January 2025, the average monthly rent in Greater London reached 2,227 British pounds, confirming its position as the most expensive area for private tenants. Rental prices across England stood at 1,375 British pounds, while the average for Great Britain was recorded at 1,332 British pounds. The North East remains the most affordable region, with rents at 710 British pounds. According to the UK Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR), rental growth has accelerated since 2021, with the cost of rental properties rising by nearly nine percent annually in January 2025.

Price to Rent Ratio in the United States increased to 134.20 in the fourth quarter of 2024 from 133.60 in the third quarter of 2024. This dataset includes a chart with historical data for the United States Price to Rent Ratio.

Rent Inflation in the United States decreased to 3.90 percent in May from 4 percent in April of 2025. This dataset includes a chart with historical data for the United States Rent Inflation.

Israel Rental Prices: Avg: Netanya: 2.5 to 3 rooms data was reported at 3,898.100 ILS in Dec 2024. This records an increase from the previous number of 3,865.200 ILS for Sep 2024. Israel Rental Prices: Avg: Netanya: 2.5 to 3 rooms data is updated quarterly, averaging 3,331.400 ILS from Mar 2017 (Median) to Dec 2024, with 32 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3,898.100 ILS in Dec 2024 and a record low of 3,034.995 ILS in Mar 2017. Israel Rental Prices: Avg: Netanya: 2.5 to 3 rooms data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Central Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Israel – Table IL.EB009: Average Rental Price: Dwellings.

In the 2 years to March 2023, White British households spent 28% of their weekly income on rent payments on average – the lowest percentage out of all ethnic groups.

VITAL SIGNS INDICATOR List Rents (EC9)

FULL MEASURE NAME List Rents

LAST UPDATED October 2016

DESCRIPTION List rent refers to the advertised rents for available rental housing and serves as a measure of housing costs for new households moving into a neighborhood, city, county or region.

DATA SOURCE real Answers (1994 – 2015) no link

Zillow Metro Median Listing Price All Homes (2010-2016) http://www.zillow.com/research/data/

CONTACT INFORMATION vitalsigns.info@mtc.ca.gov

METHODOLOGY NOTES (across all datasets for this indicator) List rents data reflects median rent prices advertised for available apartments rather than median rent payments; more information is available in the indicator definition above. Regional and local geographies rely on data collected by real Answers, a research organization and database publisher specializing in the multifamily housing market. real Answers focuses on collecting longitudinal data for individual rental properties through quarterly surveys. For the Bay Area, their database is comprised of properties with 40 to 3,000+ housing units. Median list prices most likely have an upward bias due to the exclusion of smaller properties. The bias may be most extreme in geographies where large rental properties represent a small portion of the overall rental market. A map of the individual properties surveyed is included in the Local Focus section.

Individual properties surveyed provided lower- and upper-bound ranges for the various types of housing available (studio, 1 bedroom, 2 bedroom, etc.). Median lower- and upper-bound prices are determined across all housing types for the regional and county geographies. The median list price represented in Vital Signs is the average of the median lower- and upper-bound prices for the region and counties. Median upper-bound prices are determined across all housing types for the city geographies. The median list price represented in Vital Signs is the median upper-bound price for cities. For simplicity, only the mean list rent is displayed for the individual properties. The metro areas geography rely upon Zillow data, which is the median price for rentals listed through www.zillow.com during the month. Like the real Answers data, Zillow's median list prices most likely have an upward bias since small properties are underrepresented in Zillow's listings. The metro area data for the Bay Area cannot be compared to the regional Bay Area data. Due to afore mentioned data limitations, this data is suitable for analyzing the change in list rents over time but not necessarily comparisons of absolute list rents. Metro area boundaries reflects today’s metro area definitions by county for consistency, rather than historical metro area boundaries.

Due to the limited number of rental properties surveyed, city-level data is unavailable for Atherton, Belvedere, Brisbane, Calistoga, Clayton, Cloverdale, Cotati, Fairfax, Half Moon Bay, Healdsburg, Hillsborough, Los Altos Hills, Monte Sereno, Moranga, Oakley, Orinda, Portola Valley, Rio Vista, Ross, San Anselmo, San Carlos, Saratoga, Sebastopol, Windsor, Woodside, and Yountville.

Inflation-adjusted data are presented to illustrate how rents have grown relative to overall price increases; that said, the use of the Consumer Price Index does create some challenges given the fact that housing represents a major chunk of consumer goods bundle used to calculate CPI. This reflects a methodological tradeoff between precision and accuracy and is a common concern when working with any commodity that is a major component of CPI itself. Percent change in inflation-adjusted median is calculated with respect to the median price from the fourth quarter or December of the base year.