September saw the highest average rental costs ever recorded by Goodlord, according to the PropTech firm’s latest index. 

With the previous record of £1,238 hit in July 2022, September’s prices took this to new heights. The average cost of rent for a property in England over the last month was £1,249. This is an increase of 1.8 per cent compared to last month, and means average rents are now 13.17 per cent higher year on year. 

The majority of regions across England saw an increase in the cost of rent, but a significant surge was recorded in London. 

Average costs for Londoners tipped over the £2,000 mark for the first time ever. The cost of renting a property in the capital now sits at £2,055 – a 6.7 per cent jump up from August’s averages. 

The only regions to record a dip in costs were the North East where, following several months of higher than expected rental growth, September saw rental costs decrease by 6.7 per cent, taking average prices down to £890.

With demand staying strong across the country, voids remain low. However, no records were broken last month, with voids actually increasing slightly from 14 days in August to 15 days in September. By comparison, in September 2021, voids were 17 days. 

London saw a drop in voids – down from 11 days to just nine. Whereas the South West saw a slower pace, with properties taking 17 days to change hands, up from 14 last month. 

Tom Mundy, chief operating officer of Goodlord, comments: “This has been another record-breaking month for the market. Whilst we always expect August and September to be busy, we’re seen rents break records for the second time in one summer and London has tipped over the £2,000 average threshold. 

“These are truly significant benchmarks and demonstrate a red hot rental market. What happens when this reality meets what’s on track to be a difficult winter for many remains to be seen, but agents and landlords must be prepared for demand to stay high, even as individual circumstances start to shift.”

Supply Of Homes To Rent Stays Static For Three Straight Months

The rental sector remains strong according to the latest market survey by Propertymark.

The number of new tenants registered on average per member branch reached a new peak at 141 in August – but the supply of available homes to rent has not risen in the last three months. 

The association says that a growing mismatch between supply and demand means pressure on rents will rise even further.

An average of 141 new applicants were registered per member branch in August. After months of rising figures this is now 188 per cent higher than in December.

Propertymark’s agents reported having 10.9 properties on average per branch available to rent in August – unchanged since June. 

Three quarters of member agents reported month-on-month rent prices increasing in August. 

Propertymark says that it has also seen a slight increase in new prospective tenants registered and instructions, suggesting the autumn market may have started a little early.

Propertymark chief executive Nathan Emerson says: “In the rental market we see a pressure cooker getting hotter. 

“The government seem to be missing every opportunity to re-evaluate costs for landlords, whilst this isn’t the most sentimentally attractive conversation for politicians it must be understood that if investment doesn’t work for landlords, ultimately tenants are severely impacted by a lack of choice and high rent prices.”

Meanwhile there’s more stock in the sale market, up 47 per cent since the depths of winter – but demand has risen by 79 per cent over the same period.

The number of agents reporting average price agreed at or above asking has held steady since July.

The volume of new buyers registering per member branch in August rose slightly over July potentially indicating the start of a pickup for the autumn season. There was 86 new prospective homebuyers registered per member branch in August – a 79 per cent increase since December last year.

The data also reveals that there were 11 new instructions on average per member branch in August.

The average number of properties available to buy per member branch was 28 in August. This is slightly up since the winter dip but still well below the pre-pandemic average of 40 properties available a year ago. 

Last month Propertymark reported that some buyers were starting to secure homes under the asking price, with 27 per cent of branches now reporting that most sales were completed below asking price compared to a low of just 15 per cent in March.

Nathan Emerson says: “The number of people wanting to buy is still good, and the number of properties available to buy is recovering from the mad dash we had before.