England’s landlords see lettings market remain ‘steady’

Rents in March increased slightly across England, while voids grew by just one day on average, a rental index reveals.

The findings from Goodlord show that rents are still high when compared to February’s figures.

Tenants in England are now paying £1,090 on average – that’s up 0.14% month-on-month – and is the highest rise recorded since last October.

The data shows that most regions saw a small shift in prices with the largest change seen by landlords in the East Midlands, where rents fell by 2.8%.

In the South West, however, rents rose by 2.4%.

‘March was a remarkably steady month for the market’

Tom Mundy, the COO at Goodlord, said: “March was a remarkably steady month for the market, matching February prices and voids very closely.

“In the coming months, however, we predict rents to creep back up towards levels seen last summer.

“The void picture in major urban areas, such as Greater London, offers another strong indication that demand remains high and shows no sign of abating.”

Rent prices are now 8% higher year-on-year

Goodlord says that rent prices are now 8% higher year-on-year than 2022 levels and voids have also remained steady.

It says that the average void period for a rental home also saw little movement last month – moving up from 17 days on average in February, to 18 days.

The biggest rise in voids was seen in the North East which saw a two-day jump from 15 to 17 days – a rise of 13%,

The area that saw the biggest drop in voids was in Greater London, where numbers fell from 13 days to 12 – a 7% fall.

However, there were three regions – the East Midlands, North West, and South East – that saw no movement at all for voids.