The rental market proves resilient as ‘demand remains strong’
The private rented sector is set to see the sustained growth of rental values seen throughout the course of last year continue into the new decade, the latest government index suggests.
The latest data from the Office for National Statistics for the UK for January 2020 show that private rents rose by 1.5% in the 12 months to January, up marginally from the 1.4% annual figure reported a month earlier.
Private rental prices grew by 1.5% in England, 1.3% in Wales, and by 0.6% in Scotland in the 12 months to January 2020.
Looking at the English regions, the largest annual rental price increase in the 12 months to January 2020 was in the South West at 2.3%, up from 2.2% in December 2019.
This was followed by the East Midlands at 2.2%. The lowest annual rental price growth was in the North East, where prices increased by 0.6% in the 12 months to January 2020, followed by the North West, which increased by 1.1%.
Focusing on the long-term trend, between January 2015 and December 2019, private rental prices in the UK increased by 8.6%.
Hedi Zidan, founder and CEO of Nestify, a proptech lettings agent, said: “The figures demonstrate that the UK rental market is resilient and that demand remains strong.
“Landlords are increasingly meeting tenants who are seeking a range of different accommodation solutions, durations and tenancy options. This means that in order to maximise the current UK housing stock, it’s vital landlords have access to a range of short, medium and long-term rental options.
“These figures demonstrate how integral professional landlords are to UK housing and it is our belief that they should be supported to provide the range of tenancies that the UK rental population so clearly crave.”