Rent growth returns as London leads rise

Annual rent growth for newly agreed tenancies has returned to positive territory after seven months of declines, new figures from Hamptons show.

Average monthly rents for newly let homes in Great Britain reached £1,368 in February.

That is 0.6% higher than the same month last year and ends a run of annual falls stretching back to June 2025.

London recorded the strongest movement as rents rose 1% over the past year, ending a sequence of 13 consecutive months during which rents had been falling.

Inner London accounted for most of that movement as rents grew by 2.6% year-on-year.

Rents are going up

The firm’s head of research, Aneisha Beveridge, said: “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.”

She added: “Whether the Renters’ Rights Act proves to be inflationary for rents will ultimately depend on how well it works in practise for landlords.”

London’s rents rise

Hamptons says that London’s rents rise is also the first time in 27 months that London’s growth is higher than elsewhere in Great Britain.

Over the past year, while the capital’s rents rose 1%, compared with 0.3% outside London.

In October 2023, London rents were rising at an annual rate of 9.6%, while rents elsewhere were increasing by 8.0%.

However, supply in the capital remains significantly lower than it was historically.

The number of homes on the market in London is now 42.4% lower than it was at the same point 10 years ago.

Across Great Britain, the fall over that period stands at 25.4%.

Outer London has recorded an even sharper contraction with the number of homes down 50.7% compared with a decade ago.

Regional rent rises

Regional rent data shows that annual growth across the three northern regions returned to 1% for the first time since June 2025.

The two Midlands regions also recorded stronger increases, with annual growth reaching its highest level since August 2025.

Tenants renewing agreements have also seen costs rise, growing by an average of 2.2% over the last 12 months.

That marks the slowest pace of increase for renewal rents since September 2021, when renewals rose by 1.6%.

Over the last five years, the cost of renewing a tenancy has risen by 24.7%.