Annual rental growth for newly let homes moved back into positive territory for the first time since June, reports lettings agency Hamptons.
Newly agreed rents in Great Britain rose 0.6% year-on-year to £1,368 per month, ending a seven-month run of annual declines.
Unlike in 2025, rental growth has been led by London, where 13 consecutive months of falling rents came to an end in February.
Rents in the capital rose 1.0% over the last 12 months, driven by Inner London, where rents increased 2.6% year-on-year.
| Region | New lets | Renewals | ||
| Average monthly rent | YoY % | Average monthly rent | YoY % | |
| Greater London | £2,294 | 1.0% | £2,179 | -2.3% |
| Inner London | £2,749 | 2.6% | £2,636 | -4.3% |
| Outer London | £1,959 | -0.6% | £1,843 | -0.2% |
| South | £1,338 | -0.5% | £1,278 | 4.7% |
| East of England | £1,260 | 0.5% | £1,247 | 4.6% |
| South East | £1,445 | -1.4% | £1,369 | 4.7% |
| South West | £1,254 | 0.0% | £1,172 | 4.7% |
| Midlands | £1,042 | 1.8% | £974 | 4.4% |
| East Midlands | £992 | 1.6% | £936 | 4.6% |
| West Midlands | £1,085 | 2.0% | £1,008 | 4.2% |
| North | £957 | 1.0% | £896 | 5.4% |
| North East | £832 | 1.4% | £780 | 3.9% |
| North West | £1,032 | 2.2% | £928 | 6.4% |
| Yorkshire & The Humber | £912 | -1.0% | £905 | 4.6% |
| Wales | £873 | 0.0% | £821 | 2.1% |
| Scotland | £1,023 | 2.7% | £929 | 5.8% |
| Great Britain | £1,368 | 0.6% | £1,295 | 2.2% |
| Great Britain (Exc London) | £1,131 | 0.3% | £1,069 | 4.7% |
Source: Hamptons
This marks the first time in 27 months that rental growth in the capital (+1.0%) has outpaced growth outside London (+0.3%).
Back in October 2023, London rents were close to rising at a double-digit pace (+9.6%) compared with 8.0% elsewhere.
Rental supply in the capital remains tight.
The number of homes on the market in London is down 42.4% compared with the same period 10 years ago, exceeding the 25.4% fall recorded nationally. Outer London has seen an even larger fall of 50.7%.
Annual rental growth picked up across the country. Growth in the three northern regions returned to 1.0% for the first time since June 2025, while annual growth in the two Midlands regions returned to its highest level since August 2025.
Meanwhile, the average rent paid by a tenant renewing a contract rose 2.2% over the last 12 months, the slowest pace since September 2021, when renewals rose 1.6%. Over the last five years, the cost of renewing a contract has risen 24.7%.
Aneisha Beveridge, Head of Research at Hamptons, says:“With D-Day for the Renters’ Rights Act now less than 50 days away, rental growth has started to creep up.
“But awareness of the many upcoming changes remains relatively low among landlords, and so far there have been few signs that landlords are looking to push up rents specifically ahead of 1 May.
“Whether the Renters’ Rights Act proves to be inflationary for rents will ultimately depend on how well it works in practise for landlords.”
This article is taken from Landlord Today