Rents In England & Wales Up 3.2%
While the change in rental rates in England and Wales have seen little change since the beginning of 2018, the comparison year-on-year is a considerable difference.
According to the latest rental tracker index from Your Move, the average residential rent in England and Wales has risen by 3.2% in the 12 months to March 2018.
This takes the average price of renting a home to £860 per month.
The data showed that it was the region of the East Midlands in which rents grew the fastest and saw an annual increase of 3.2% resulting in a new average rate of £893.
The index detailed that the East Midlands is now the joint second most expensive place to rent a home, tied with the South East, where renting a home also costs an average of £893 per month, but only saw a rise of 1.6%.
The title of ‘most expensive place to rent’ in the country remains with London, as even though the region has seen very little change over the course of a year, rent still stands at an average of £1,276 per month.
In the South West, rents were up by 2.3% to £667 on average. Not too far behind, with a 2.1% rise, was the East of England to a new average of £893.
Rents in the West Midlands were up by 2% and in the region of Yorkshire and the Humber, rents increased by 1.7%, with monthly averages now at £618 and £575, respectively.
The North East saw the largest fall in rent with monthly payments now at £536, a 1.6% fall. Whilst Wales also saw similar activity in the market as rents fell by 0.8% to £593.
In terms of yield, Wales was the only area to record a slight fall, with return for investors dropping by 0.1 from month-to-month to an average of 4.7%. However, average yields throughout the country stand at 4.4%.
National Letting Director at Your Move – Martyn Alderton – said "The market in London has stopped its recent slowdown, but still lags behind the strong growth seen in the East Midlands.
"The south west also grew at a strong pace while the north east delivered the strongest yields to landlords.
"This shows that there is something for every investor and landlord, whether yield driven or seeing capital appreciation, in today’s rental market."
