Data from the rental market, shows that rents across England came down in November. At the same time, void periods were increasing slightly. Although winter traditionally is a quieter time for the lettings market, rental prices are still significantly up year on year.
The data gathered from each of the seven English regions, saw a decrease in the average cost of rent during November. On average, the cost of renting a property dropped by 2% overall – going from £1,111 in October to £1,087 in November. The biggest single percentage change was seen in the North-West, where a 5% reduction in the cost of renting was recorded: average rental prices dropping from £903 to £858 per month in this region.
Elsewhere, changes were smaller, with the South-East in particular recording the lowest change. Rents in this region moved by less than 1% – reducing from £1,194 to £1,187.
With these recent changes, rental costs are now at their lowest since June 2022. This is to be expected, being consistent with data over the last four years, where prices typically drop between October and November in England. This is driven by a waning of traditional high student demand after the start of the academic year, coupled with colder weather and less market activity overall.
However, despite this traditional drop, rental prices are still up by 11% compared to 2021 averages and are forecast to continue to rise higher, based on increasing demand for rental properties coupled with a increasing shortage of available stock as landlords continue to exit the market.
