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.

Rents of mainstream rental properties in London are forecast to continue to increase between 2024 and 2028. Rental growth is expected to be the strongest in 2024, at 5.5 percent. On the other hand, house prices are expected to grow at a slower rate.

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 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.

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

Percentage of total monthly household income spent on private rent, by country and by regions of England, financial years ending 2013 to 2023.

The Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR) increased gradually since 2015 and reached a value of 121.8 in January 2025. That indicates a rental increase of 11 percent since January 2023, the baseline year when the index was set to 100. The rental rates for mainstream properties are forecast to continue to grow over the next five years.

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

This statistic displays the share of properties in London in the United Kingdoms (UK) that are rented compared to owned by the the dweller in the fourth quarter of 2019, by district. The West Central area of London saw the highest share of rented property in the fourth quarter 2019 with 83 percent. London's south east, on the other hand, had two thirds (66 percent) of dwellers renting and just over one third (34 percent) who lived in a property they owned.

The Report Covers UK Commercial Property Market Forecast and Size. The Market is Segmented by Type (Office, Retail, Industrial, Logistics, Hospitality, and Multi-Family) and by Key City and Region (England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, London (City), and Rest of the United Kingdom).

Rent Inflation in the United Kingdom decreased to 7.40 percent in February from 7.80 percent in January of 2025. This dataset includes a chart with historical data for the United Kingdom Rent Inflation.

The files below provide the affordable housing statistics for GLA funded programmes. The GLA is committed to open and transparent reporting and will publish statistics relating to housing delivery in London.

Downloads

• - Monthly GLA housing starts and completions data by programme, tenure and Local Authority, since April 2009.

  Excel or PDF

• - Annual Affordable Housing Additional Information by bedroom size by Local Authority:

  Excel or PDF

  Tables include:

• 1 Completions outturn by bedroom breakdown and borough

• 2 Starts-on-Site outturn by bedroom breakdown and borough

• 3 Completions outturn by bedroom breakdown and programme

• 4 Starts-on-Site outturn by bedroom breakdown and programme

• 5 Rent Completions outturn by bedroom breakdown and borough

• 6 Home Ownership Completions outturn by bedroom breakdown and borough

• 7 Rent Starts-on-Site outturn by bedroom breakdown and borough

• 8 Home Ownership Starts-on-Site outturn by bedroom breakdown and borough

• 9 Average Weekly Rents (all programmes) for completed homes by bedroom breakdown by borough

• 10 Affordable Homes Programme: Average weekly rent as % of market rent for homes completed by bedroom breakdown and borough.

This information supplements previous releases of national housing statistics published by the Homes and Communities Agency (external website).

To see future Publication Dates 2014-15 of the affordable Housing Statistics, please click here.

Annual scheme level data

A data set of scheme completions and starts since April 2011 is available. This data set will be updated on an annual basis.

See some of this data represented in charts and maps using Tableau reporting.

Visit GLA website for more information.

Further to the GLA's scheme of delegations, the Mayor has delegated authority to the Executive Director of Housing and Land to approve engagement with, and allocations to, new and existing housing providers bidding to deliver additional affordable homes in London. The approvals include bids for new schemes in existing programmes and the approval of variations to existing scheme allocations. The Additional Allocations file below lists additional funding approved under this delegation.

AHP Conversions

This report is based on information on conversions provided to the GLA by the Social Housing Regulator, the conversion data is as submitted by providers in their quarterly survey via NROSH+ (a website for all private registered providers except local authority providers to submit their annual data returns required by the Social Housing Regulator).

As of the second quarter of 2024, there were nearly 116,000 build-to-rent homes in the United Kingdom, the majority of which were apartments in multifamily housing. Additionally, over 45,000 homes were in construction, and 105,000 were in planning. Build-to-rent refers to homes that are built specifically for renting rather than for sale. They differentiate from traditional rent homes with their focus on the provision of services, i.e. professional on-site management, shared spaces, work zones, fitness centers. A substantial share of the built-to-rent stock is concentrated in London.

Indicative weights used in the new Price Index of Private Rents statistics.