TDS has published its latest State of the Market Briefing looking at key trends in the cost of rent and supply of privately rented properties across the UK. Any one data set is unlikely to cover all the market, but by looking across several different sources we can get an idea of what is happening.
Rental Costs
The data shows that private rental prices have continued to increase in the second part of 2023.
Across the UK (not including London) there was an annual increase of approximately 10% on new lets.
Cities are being hit the hardest. Over the past year, rents on new lets in London, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee increased by over 12%.
Datasets covering both existing tenancies and new lets, show a lower rate of increase. Across the UK (not including London), the annual increase was approximately 5%.
Landlords tend to increase rents when tenancies turn over. Tenants are now remaining in rented properties for much longer periods of time. In London, tenancy lengths are broadly doubling.
Supply
The mismatch between supply and demand has become a familiar feature of the private rented sector across the UK.
There is some indication that this gap may be narrowing: Zoopla data suggests that compared to a year ago, demand for rented homes is 20% lower and supply 20% higher.
However, lack of supply remains a key issue across the UK.
One study by Savills and London School of Economics, found that many factors are contributing to the lack of supply in London, including contractions in the buy-to-let market, increased landlord costs due to policy and economic factors, and reduced churn in the sector.
