A report by Homelet showed the average monthly rent in the UK (excluding London) now stands at £708. The South West saw the biggest drop of 9.3% with the average rent now costing £787 per month.
The findings revealed that Plymouth was the most affordable major city in the UK for tenants, with rent costing 27% of income.
Bristol ranked in the top five least affordable major cities to rent, commanding 43% of income. London remained the least affordable city in the UK taking 49% of the average tenant’s income. Edinburgh and Birmingham followed closely behind with tenants paying an average of 47% of their income on rent.
While rents for new tenancies remained higher than in October 2013, it is the third month in a row that Homelet has recorded a decrease in many of the regions.
Martin Totty, Barbon Insurance Group’s chief executive officer, said: “The divide between areas that previously registered fast-growing rents and those where increases were more modest suggests that the market may be levelling out geographically. All around the UK, landlords continue to make sensible decisions about the ability of tenants to pay rents.”
Regions that have experienced high growth in recent times such as Greater London, East Anglia the South East and the South West of England are now recording falling rental prices. In London, prices for a new tenancy agreement dropped by 3.8% compared with September. In the South East, rents fell 3.1% and in East Anglia prices dropped 5.4%, while the South West saw the biggest monthly drop with rents falling by 9.3%
By contrast the North East of England and the East Midlands, where rents have not risen so sharply in recent times, saw continued growth in October of 3.8% and 3.4% respectively. In the South East, rents fell 3.1% and in East Anglia prices dropped 5.4%, while the South West saw the biggest monthly drop with rents falling by 9.3%.
