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.

The majority of private landlords in England raised the rent on the most recent letting or extension in line with market rents in the area. This reason was chosen by 79 percent of the respondents. Additionally, 40 percent were advised by their agent. Additional costs incurred by landlords, such as mortgage costs, renovation, and tax changes, also played a significant role. In the UK, rental growth started to accelerate in 2021, with the year-on-year increase in the Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR) peaking at 9.2 percent in March 2024.

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.

The UK residential rental market is poised for significant growth, with forecasts indicating a cumulative increase of nearly 18 percent by 2029. This surge is expected to be front-loaded, with a robust eight percent rise anticipated in 2024. Rental growth has accelerated notably since 2021, with August 2024 experiencing a decade-high annual percentage growth. The trend reflects the complex interplay between housing affordability, mortgage rates, and supply of rental homes, as the UK housing market navigates a period of transition.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The English Housing Survey (EHS) is a continuous national survey commissioned by the Ministry of Housing, Community and Local Government (MHCLG) that collects information about people's housing circumstances and the condition and energy efficiency of housing in England. The EHS brings together two previous survey series into a single fieldwork operation: the English House Condition Survey (EHCS) (available from the UK Data Archive under GN 33158) and the Survey of English Housing (SEH) (available under GN 33277). The EHS covers all housing tenures. The information obtained through the survey provides an accurate picture of people living in the dwelling, and their views on housing and their neighbourhoods. The survey is also used to inform the development and monitoring of the Ministry's housing policies. Results from the survey are also used by a wide range of other users including other government departments, local authorities, housing associations, landlords, academics, construction industry professionals, consultants, and the general public.

The EHS has a complex multi-stage methodology consisting of two main elements; an initial interview survey of around 12,000 households and a follow-up physical inspection. Some further elements are also periodically included in or derived from the EHS: for 2008 and 2009, a desk-based market valuation was conducted of a sub-sample of 8,000 dwellings (including vacant ones), but this was not carried out from 2010 onwards. A periodic follow-up survey of private landlords and agents (the Private Landlords Survey (PLS)) is conducted using information from the EHS interview survey. Fuel Poverty datasets are also available from 2003, created by the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC).

The EHS interview survey sample formed part of the Integrated Household Survey (IHS) (available from the Archive under GN 33420) from April 2008 to April 2011. During this period the core questions from the IHS formed part of the EHS questionnaire.

End User Licence and Special Licence Versions:
From 2014 data onwards, the End User Licence (EUL) versions of the EHS will only include derived variables. In addition the number of variables on the new EUL datasets has been reduced and disclosure control increased on certain remaining variables. New Special Licence versions of the EHS will be deposited later in the year, which will be of a similar nature to previous EHS EUL datasets and will include derived and raw datasets.

Further information about the EHS and the latest news, reports and tables can be found on the GOV.UK English Housing Survey web pages.

English Housing Survey, 2021-2022: Household Data contains data from the interview survey only. The data from the physical survey are available under English Housing Survey, 2021: Housing Stock Data.

Due to changes to the methodology in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, both the achieved full interview (household) and dwelling (stock) samples in 2020-21 were smaller than in a normal year, at 7,474 households and 5,228 dwellings respectively. Vacant dwellings were not surveyed in 2021-22 because social distancing restrictions prevented interviewers from visiting the sampled addresses to identify them. Further details about the key changes made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic are included in the Technical Report available as part of the study documentation.

Main Topics:

The EHS Housing survey consists of two components.

Interview survey on the participating household - An interview is first conducted with the householder. The interview topics include: household characteristics, satisfaction with the home and the area, disability and adaptations to the home, ownership and rental details and income details. All interviewees are guaranteed confidentiality and all data is anonymised.

Physical survey on the housing Stock - A visual inspection of both the interior and exterior of the dwelling is carried out by a qualified surveyor to assess the condition and energy efficiency of the dwelling. Topics covered include whether the dwelling meets the Decent Homes Standard; cost to make the dwelling decent; existence of damp and Category 1 Hazards as measured by the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS); Energy Efficiency Rating. The physical survey is carried out on the dwelling of a sub-sample of the participants of the interview survey. The sub-sample consists of the dwelling of participants living in private or social rented properties and a sub-sample of those in owner occupied properties. A proportion of the dwellings found to be vacant during the interview survey are also included in the physical survey.

There is a more recent version, Local Housing Allowance (LHA) Rates per Broad Rental Market Area BRMA, UK 2012-2025 v2.

This dataset contains the weekly Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates for Broad Rental Market Areas (BRMAs) across the UK from 2012/13 to 2024/25. LHA is a means-tested housing benefit for households in the private rented sector. BRMAs are the spatial units used for the administration of LHA. Since 2011, there have been 200 BRMAs in total (England: 152; Northern Ireland: 8; Scotland: 18; Wales: 23; but note that one BRMA spans England and Wales). LHA rates set the maximum level of housing benefit a household can receive in a given BRMA and is dependent on the size of their property. The dataset also includes estimates of the 30th centile rent for each BRMA as this is calculated separately by the Government agencies as a reference point for LHA.

LHA rates are set from April each year, based on evidence of market rents collected by the relevant government agency in each country. From April 2011, the maximum LHA rate was reduced from the median rent for each BRMA to the 30th centile rent. From 2012 onwards, limits were placed on the annual increases in LHA rates:

• 2012 - no increase;
• 2013 - increase limited to the Consumer Price Index;
• 2014 /2015 - maximum increase 1%;
• 2016-19 - no increases;
• 2020 - rates reset to 30th centile;
• 2021-23 - no increases; and
• 2024 - rates reset to 30th centile.

There are no 30th centile rents for any part of Great Britain for 2012/13 and none for Northern Ireland in 2018. There are a small number of cases where 30th centile rents are missing in some BRMAs, presumably due to insufficient data on which to make a market assessment.

Details on sources and method of contruction here: https://github.com/nick-bailey/LHA-rates-for-BRMAs.

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.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The English Housing Survey (EHS) is a continuous national survey commissioned by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) that collects information about people's housing circumstances and the condition and energy efficiency of housing in England. The EHS brings together two previous survey series into a single fieldwork operation: the English House Condition Survey (EHCS) (available from the UK Data Archive under GN 33158) and the Survey of English Housing (SEH) (available under GN 33277). The EHS covers all housing tenures and provides valuable information and evidence to inform the development and monitoring of the department's housing policies. Results from the survey are also used by a wide range of other users including other government departments, local authorities, housing associations, landlords, academics, construction industry professionals, consultants, and the general public.

The EHS has a complex multi-stage methodology consisting of two main elements; an initial interview survey of around 14,000 households and a follow-up physical inspection. Some further elements are also periodically included in or derived from the EHS: for 2008 and 2009, a desk-based market valuation was conducted of a sub-sample of 8,000 dwellings (including vacant ones), but this was not carried out from 2010 onwards. A periodic follow-up survey of private landlords and agents (the Private Landlords Survey (PLS)) is conducted using information from the EHS interview survey. Fuel Poverty datasets are also available from 2003, created by the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC).

The EHS interview survey sample formed part of the Integrated Household Survey (IHS) (available from the Archive under GN 33420) from April 2008 to April 2011. During this period the core questions from the IHS formed part of the EHS questionnaire.

End User Licence and Special Licence Versions:
From 2014 data onwards, the End User Licence (EUL) versions of the EHS only include derived variables. In addition the number of variables on the EUL datasets from that date has been reduced and disclosure control increased on certain remaining variables. The new Special Licence versions of the EHS, which are subject to more restrictive access conditions, are of a similar nature to EHS EUL datasets prior to 2014 and include both derived and raw datasets.

Further information about the EHS and the latest news, reports and tables can be found on the GOV.UK English Housing Survey web pages.

The English Housing Survey, 2021: Housing Stock Data includes data from a two-year rolling sample with the appropriate two-year weights, and covers the period April 2020 to March 2022.

Fieldwork was suspended between April and June 2020 because of restrictions introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic and, for the same reason, carrying out face-to-face fieldwork was not possible for the remainder of the year. The EHS was therefore carried out over a reduced fieldwork period between July, 2020 and April, 2021 using a 'push-to-telephone' approach and an 'external plus' physical survey where internal inspections of properties were replaced with external inspections, where the inspection was restricted to an assessment of the exterior of the dwelling and supplemented by information about the interior of the dwelling the surveyor collected (socially distanced) at the doorstep.

Some of the raw data required for modelling could not be collected, in which case predictive modelled estimates at dwelling level were produced to indicate whether or not a dwelling: had damp problems; had any Category 1 hazards assessed through the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS); or met the Decent Homes Standard.

Main Topics:

The EHS Housing survey consists of two components:

Interview Survey on the Participating Household
An interview is first conducted with the householder. The interview topics include: household characteristics, satisfaction with the home and the area, disability and adaptations to the home, ownership and rental details and income details. All interviewees are guaranteed confidentiality and all data is anonymised.

Physical Survey on the Housing Stock
A visual inspection of both the interior and exterior of the dwelling is carried out by a qualified surveyor to assess the condition and energy efficiency of the dwelling. Topics covered include whether the dwelling meets the Decent Homes Standard; cost to make the dwelling decent; existence of damp and Category 1 Hazards as measured by the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS); Energy Efficiency Rating. The physical survey is carried out on the dwelling of a sub-sample of the participants of the interview survey. The...

The average agreed rent for new tenancies in the UK ranged from 665 British pounds to 2,100 British pounds, depending on the region. On average, renters outside of London paid 1,095 British pounds, whereas in London, this figure amounted to 2,025 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 25 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 30 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 30 percent of income. In 2024, most renters in the UK exceeded that threshold, with the southern regions significantly more likely to spend upward of 30 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 English Housing Survey (EHS) is a continuous national survey commissioned by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) that collects information about people's housing circumstances and the condition and energy efficiency of housing in England. The EHS brings together two previous survey series into a single fieldwork operation: the English House Condition Survey (EHCS) (available from the UK Data Archive under GN 33158) and the Survey of English Housing (SEH) (available under GN 33277). The EHS covers all housing tenures and provides valuable information and evidence to inform the development and monitoring of the department's housing policies. Results from the survey are also used by a wide range of other users including other government departments, local authorities, housing associations, landlords, academics, construction industry professionals, consultants, and the general public.

The EHS has a complex multi-stage methodology consisting of two main elements; an initial interview survey of around 14,000 households and a follow-up physical inspection. Some further elements are also periodically included in or derived from the EHS: for 2008 and 2009, a desk-based market valuation was conducted of a sub-sample of 8,000 dwellings (including vacant ones), but this was not carried out from 2010 onwards. A periodic follow-up survey of private landlords and agents (the Private Landlords Survey (PLS)) is conducted using information from the EHS interview survey. Fuel Poverty datasets are also available from 2003, created by the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC).

The EHS interview survey sample formed part of the Integrated Household Survey (IHS) (available from the Archive under GN 33420) from April 2008 to April 2011. During this period the core questions from the IHS formed part of the EHS questionnaire.

End User Licence and Special Licence Versions:
From 2014 data onwards, the End User Licence (EUL) versions of the EHS only include derived variables. In addition the number of variables on the EUL datasets from that date has been reduced and disclosure control increased on certain remaining variables. The new Special Licence versions of the EHS, which are subject to more restrictive access conditions, are of a similar nature to EHS EUL datasets prior to 2014 and include both derived and raw datasets.

Further information about the EHS and the latest news, reports and tables can be found on the GOV.UK English Housing Survey web pages.

The English Housing Survey, 2020: Housing Stock Data includes data from a two-year rolling sample with the appropriate two-year weights, and covers the period April 2019 to March 2021.

Fieldwork was suspended between April and June 2020 because of restrictions introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic and, for the same reason, carrying out face-to-face fieldwork was not possible for the remainder of the year. The EHS was therefore carried out over a reduced fieldwork period between July, 2020 and April, 2021 using a 'push-to-telephone' approach and an 'external plus' physical survey where internal inspections of properties were replaced with external inspections, where the inspection was restricted to an assessment of the exterior of the dwelling and supplemented by information about the interior of the dwelling the surveyor collected (socially distanced) at the doorstep.

Some of the raw data required for modelling could not be collected, in which case predictive modelled estimates at dwelling level were produced to indicate whether or not a dwelling: had damp problems; had any Category 1 hazards assessed through the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS); or met the Decent Homes Standard.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The English Housing Survey (EHS) is a continuous national survey commissioned by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) that collects information about people's housing circumstances and the condition and energy efficiency of housing in England. The EHS brings together two previous survey series into a single fieldwork operation: the English House Condition Survey (EHCS) (available from the UK Data Archive under GN 33158) and the Survey of English Housing (SEH) (available under GN 33277). The EHS covers all housing tenures and provides valuable information and evidence to inform the development and monitoring of the department's housing policies. Results from the survey are also used by a wide range of other users including other government departments, local authorities, housing associations, landlords, academics, construction industry professionals, consultants, and the general public.

The EHS has a complex multi-stage methodology consisting of two main elements; an initial interview survey of around 14,000 households and a follow-up physical inspection. Some further elements are also periodically included in or derived from the EHS: for 2008 and 2009, a desk-based market valuation was conducted of a sub-sample of 8,000 dwellings (including vacant ones), but this was not carried out from 2010 onwards. A periodic follow-up survey of private landlords and agents (the Private Landlords Survey (PLS)) is conducted using information from the EHS interview survey. Fuel Poverty datasets are also available from 2003, created by the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC).

The EHS interview survey sample formed part of the Integrated Household Survey (IHS) (available from the Archive under GN 33420) from April 2008 to April 2011. During this period the core questions from the IHS formed part of the EHS questionnaire.

End User Licence and Special Licence Versions:
From 2014 data onwards, the End User Licence (EUL) versions of the EHS only include derived variables. In addition the number of variables on the EUL datasets from that date has been reduced and disclosure control increased on certain remaining variables. The new Special Licence versions of the EHS, which are subject to more restrictive access conditions, are of a similar nature to EHS EUL datasets prior to 2014 and include both derived and raw datasets.

Further information about the EHS and the latest news, reports and tables can be found on the GOV.UK English Housing Survey web pages.


The English Housing Survey, 2021-22 data was collected during the COVID-19 pandemic which necessitated a change in the established survey mode. Fieldwork was suspended between April and June 2020 and carrying out face-to-face fieldwork was not possible for the remainder of the year. The EHS was therefore carried out over a reduced fieldwork period between July, 2020 and April, 2021 using a 'push-to-telephone' approach and an 'external plus' physical survey where internal inspections of properties were replaced with external inspections, where the inspection was restricted to an assessment of the exterior of the dwelling and supplemented by information about the interior of the dwelling the surveyor collected (socially distanced) at the doorstep.
Some of the raw data required for modelling could not be collected, in which case predictive modelled estimates at dwelling level were produced to indicate whether or not a dwelling: had damp problems; had any Category 1 hazards assessed through the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS); or met the Decent Homes Standard.

Main Topics:

The EHS Housing survey consists of two components:

Interview Survey on the Participating Household
An interview is first conducted with the householder. The interview topics include: household characteristics, satisfaction with the home and the area, disability and adaptations to the home, ownership and rental details and income details. All interviewees are guaranteed confidentiality and all data is anonymised.

Physical Survey on the Housing Stock
As detailed above, an 'external plus' physical survey was completed during the COVID-19 pandemic due to restrictions.

This dataset contains data from the interview survey only. The data from the physical survey are available in a separate study (the Housing Stock Dataset available from the UK Data Archive under SN 9076).

Rents in England's capital, London, declined by 2.7 percent annually as of January 2025. Nevertheless, many boroughs recorded growing rental prices, with Bromley and Croydon observing double-digit growth. Across the region, Croydon, Barking, Dagenham, and Havering ranked as some of the most affordable areas to rent. As shown by the Index of Private Housing Rental Prices, rents in the UK have soared since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The industrial real estate sector is forecasted to see the highest annualized rental growth in the UK between 2024 and 2028, followed by West End offices. According to the forecast, industrial real estate rents are expected to grow by 3.2 percent per year in this period, while West End office space rents are expected to increase by 2.7 percent. When it comes to total commercial real estate returns in the UK, the industrial and retail warehousing sectors are forecast to outperform all other property types.

This dataset contains the data used in the study titled “Is hiding my first name enough? Using behavioural interventions to mitigate racial and gender discrimination in the rental housing market”. The data was collected from the London rental housing market between 2021 and 2022. Racial and gender biases are pervasive in housing markets. Males and ethnic minorities face discrimination in rental housing markets globally. The issue has been so pronounced that it regularly makes national and international headlines. In response to a racial discrimination lawsuit, Airbnb had to hide guests’ first names from rental hosts in Oregon, USA, starting in January 2022. Yet, there is little evidence that such measurement effectively counteracts racial and gender discrimination in housing markets. Despite some well-established theoretical models developed more than half a century ago and a wealth of empirical evidence accumulated over the last two decades, studies examining effective solutions to combat discrimination remain sparse especially in housing markets. Given the complexity of the products and services involved and the relatively low frequency of transactions, nuanced studies are needed to understand how implicit racial and gender biases influence letting decisions. This study investigates housing discrimination at the intersection where longstanding market behaviours meet the evolving insights of behavioural research. Although behavioural interventions have the potential to address both statistical and taste-based discrimination in the housing market, their successful implementation remains a challenge. Given the persistent biases and socio-economic dynamics in the housing market, interventions must be carefully tailored to the context. By collecting evidence from field experiments, this research aims to gain insights into how real-world behavioural interventions can be effectively designed and implemented. Our focus remains twofold: to develop a robust theoretical framework and to translate its insights into tangible, impactful policy recommendations, with the ultimate goal of fostering a more inclusive housing market.Although China has almost eliminated urban poverty, the total number of Chinese citizens in poverty remains at 82 million, most of which are rural residents. The development of rural finance is essential to preventing the country from undergoing further polarization because of the significant potential of such development to facilitate resource interflows between rural and urban markets and to support sustainable development in the agricultural sector. However, rural finance is the weakest point in China's financial systems. Rural households are more constrained than their urban counterparts in terms of financial product availability, consumer protection, and asset accumulation. The development of the rural financial system faces resistance from both the demand and the supply sides. The proposed project addresses this challenge by investigating the applications of a proven behavioural approach, namely, Libertarian Paternalism, in the development of rural financial systems in China. This approach promotes choice architectures to nudge people into optimal decisions without interfering with the freedom of choice. It has been rigorously tested and warmly received in the UK public policy domain. This approach also fits the political and cultural background in China, in which the central government needs to maintain a firm control over financial systems as the general public increasingly demands more freedom. Existing behavioural studies have been heavily reliant on laboratory experiments. Although the use of field studies has been increasing, empirical evidence from the developing world is limited. Meanwhile, the applications of behavioural insights in rural economic development in China remains an uncharted territory. Rural finance studies on the household level are limited; evidence on the role of psychological and social factors in rural households' financial decisions is scarce. The proposed project will bridge this gap in the literature. We carried out the experiment at the UK's largest online real estate portal and property website, www.rightmove.co.uk. In 2021, Rightmove had 208 million visits per month and a total of 692,000 properties listed at their website. Therefore, the platform gives us access to the largest available database of rental property listings in the country. We searched rental properties in Greater London Area that are advertised between December 2021 and April 2022. Only houses, flats and apartments are included. All listings are handled by letting agents. No private landlords are involved. Once a property was identified as eligible for the experiment, we sent a total of five applications to the letting agent, asking for a viewing appointment. The five applicants will be from different ethnic groups (i.e., one from each of the five groups) but of the same gender. The five emails were sent with at least 12 hours in between so that no suspicious of spamming might be raised. A total of 360 properties were selected, which gives a sample size of 1,800. The sample is evenly divided between the two gender groups and the five ethnic groups. Specifically, there are 360 observations in each ethnic group and 900 observations in each gender group.

In May 2024, Greater London recorded an average void period of 18 days, reflecting a slight increase from the previous months. This places London among the regions with shorter void periods, while the West Midlands experienced a longer average of 25 days. Understanding the trends of void period lengths could enable a landlord plan accordingly to minimize the impact on their expected income through careful cost planning and budgeting. According to landlords, the demand for rental properties has increased significantly.

Globally gross revenue from Airbnbs increased significantly from $27.69 billion in 2020 to $48.9 billion in 2021.

Listings per region on Airbnb declined from 2020 to 2021. Globally in 2021, there were a total of 12.7 million listings.

Here are the numbers on the countries with the most nights booked on Airbnb in 2020 and 2021.