Renters in the UK spent on average 32.5 percent of their income on rent as of January 2025. Scotland and Yorkshire and Humber were the most affordable regions, with households spending less than 28 percent of their gross income on rent. Conversely, London, South West, and South East had a higher ratio. Greater London is the most expensive region for renters Greater London has a considerably higher rent than the rest of the UK regions. In 2024, the average rental cost in Greater London was more than twice higher than in the North West or West Midlands. Compared with Greater London, rent in the South East region was about 600 British pounds cheaper. London property prices continue to increase In recent years, house prices in the UK have been steadily increasing, and the period after the COVID-19 pandemic has been no exception. Prime residential property prices in Central London are forecast to continue rising until 2027. A similar trend in prime property prices is also expected in Outer London.

Since 2015, the gap between the cost of buying a home and renting has grown, with homeownership becoming increasingly less affordable. In the ***** ******* of 2024, the house price to rent ratio in the UK stood at *****. That meant that house price growth has outpaced rental growth by nearly ** percent between 2015 and 2024. The UK's house price to rent ratio was slightly below the average Euro area ratio. House price to income ratio in the UK Another indicator for housing affordability is the house price to income ratio, which is calculated by dividing nominal house prices by the nominal disposable income per head. The ratio saw an overall increase between 2015, which was the base year, and 2022. After that, the index declined, but remained close to the average for the Euro area. Is it more affordable to rent or buy? There are many things to be considered when comparing buying to renting, such as the ability to qualify for a mortgage and whether prospective homebuyers have sufficient savings for a deposit. Generally, purchasing a home is more affordable than renting one. However, the average monthly savings first-time buyers can achieve have been on the decline. In East of England, where house prices have increased rapidly over the past few years, it was cheaper to rent than to buy in 2022.

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).

Price to Rent Ratio in the United Kingdom increased to 113.72 in the first quarter of 2025 from 113.62 in the fourth quarter of 2024. This dataset includes a chart with historical data for the United Kingdom Price to Rent Ratio.

In 2023, the most expensive residential rental market in Europe was London (inner) with rental costs of approximately **** euros per square meter. Dublin and Paris followed with rental costs of **** and **** euros per square meter. Rents increased across most markets - a trend that could also be observed in the housing market. How much does an apartment cost in different European cities? Renting a furnished studio apartment in some of the leading cities in Europe can cost anywhere between *** euros monthly (Budapest) and ***** euros (Amsterdam) per month. For afurnished one-bedroom apartment in Paris, France, one may be expected to pay on average ***** euros monthly. Which countries have the most affordable housing? The house price to rent ratio is an indicator of the affordability of owning housing over renting across European countries and is calculated as the nominal house prices divided by a rent price index. The higher the ratio, the more the gap between house prices and rental rates has widened since 2015 when the index base was 100. As of the fourth quarter of 2021, Finland, Italy, and Belgium had the lowest house price to rent ratio, meaning that buying a house was most affordable there compared to renting.

This statistic shows the ratio of house prices to household income in the United Kingdom from 1976 to 2016. In 1976 the ratio of house prices to household income was ****. This has risen to **** in 2016. The lowest ratio at any point in this statistic was **** in 1996.

Households from the Black Caribbean, Mixed White and Black Caribbean, and Bangladeshi ethnic groups were most likely to rent social housing in the 2 years from April 2021 to March 2023.

14% of White British households rented their home privately in the 2 years from April 2021 to May 2023 – the lowest percentage out of all ethnic groups.

London is the most expensive city for office real estate in Europe. In 2023, the per square foot cost of office space in London was higher than in any other European city. In West End, a Grade A office cost about 90 British pounds per square foot in 2023. Prime offices were even more expensive, at 135 British pounds per square meter. Office yields Prime yields in Central London fluctuate depending on the district, but West End areas tend to have lower yields compared to other areas, such as Stratford or Canary Wharf. The prime office yield in Mayfair/St. James' in 2023 was the lowest among the major London office submarkets. In real estate, yields measure the potential return of a rental property and are calculated as the ratio of the property's rental income to the investment cost. Typically, prime office yields in London are lower than the rest of the UK, which is mostly due to the highly competitive market and high investment costs. Vacancy rates Despite the high office rental costs in England’s capital city, vacancy rates in many of London's main office markets were below seven percent in 2023. This is good news for the office sector, as during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the share of vacant office space across all Central London districts spiked dramatically. Compared to other European cities, London was in the middle of the ranking, alongside Frankfurt and Lisbon.

In the year ending in March 2024, lead tenants from the Black ethnic group made up 7.8% of new social housing lettings and 3.9% of the overall population of England aged 16 and over.

The prime yields in the UK expanded across most property types between 2022 and 2025. In April 2025, yields were the lowest in the London West End offices market at *****percent. In contrast, shopping center yields stood at ****percent. Yield is an indicator for the expected return of a property investment and is calculated as the ratio of rental income and the property value. Several factors can drive yields - increased demand could raise property values, causing lower yields, while a fall in demand could create the opposite effect. Which is the largest commercial real estate sector in the UK? Office real estate has traditionally accounted for the lion’s share of the commercial property investment market, but since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, investors’ interest has shifted towards industrial real estate. With the e-commerce sector growing and supply chain management becoming more important than ever, so has the industrial and logistic sector. This increase in importance is also reflected in the occupiers market, with the annual take-up exceeding the ten-year average for three years in a row. How is the commercial property market expected to develop in the coming years? The industrial and logistic property market is forecast to outperform retail and offices in terms of capital value growth in the period between 2025 and 2028. According to the same forecast, rental growth is expected to turn positive for all property types in 2025, except for shopping centers.

Prime yields in the office real estate market in Central London increased in 2023. In the fourth quarter of the year, the prime yield was the lowest in the Mayfair/St. James, at **** percent. At the other end of the scale were Stratford and Canary Wharf, where the prime office yield was *** percent. Yields are calculated as the ratio of the annual rental value to the cost of a property and measure the income expected from an investment. While lower yields indicate lower return on investment, they are usually a sign of highly competitive markets with strong investment appetite. In recent years, prime office yields in London have maintained levels below four percent.