A lettings agency claimed that rents across Britain have surged by as much as 17.4% since Labour began the Renters Rights Bill’s passage through Parliament.
Benham and Reeves analysed the latest rental figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), tracking average rent changes across every local authority in Britain from September 2024 to April 2025 -the latest available.
The research shows that over this time, the average rent across Britain has risen by 3.9%, with multiple areas experiencing far steeper climbs.
Newport in Wales has seen the sharpest increase, with the average monthly rent rising from £782 to £918 — a jump of 17.4% in just seven months.
Camden in London saw rents increase by 12.7% (£2,516 to £2,836), followed closely by Broxbourne in the East of England at 12.2%, Slough in the South East at 11.4%, and Gloucester in the South West at 9.0%.
Further notable increases include:
- Rhondda Cynon Taf (Wales): 8.8%
- Dumfries and Galloway (Scotland): 8.7%
- Rutland (East Midlands): 8.5%
- Stoke-on-Trent (West Midlands): 8.1%
- Barking and Dagenham (London): 7.9%
- West Lindsey (East Midlands): 7.8%
- Derby (East Midlands): 7.6%
- Newcastle upon Tyne (North East): 7.6%
- Bath and North East Somerset (South West): 7.4%
The latest data highlights how the ongoing imbalance between supply and demand continues to drive up rental values — a trend now being compounded by growing numbers of landlords choosing to exit the market in response to yet another wave of legislative reform.
As the private rental sector continues to contract, Benham and Reeves warns that the path to greater affordability will require not just regulation, but long-term strategies that incentivise landlord retention and boost housing stock across the board.
Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, said “landlords have faced a relentless wave of legislation in recent years, and for many, the Renters’ Rights Bill is seen as a step too far. While tenant protections are important, the Bill has introduced more uncertainty into an already pressured market — and that’s prompted some landlords to sell up entirely.
Although the Bill includes provisions to keep rent increases in line with market values, those same market values are now rising sharply due to restricted supply and surging demand. So, while rent hikes may be capped procedurally, the real-world outcome is that tenants are still facing considerable increases — with fewer rental properties available and more people competing for them.”
Buy-to-let lender Landbay says 44% of landlords want to raise rents before the bill is enacted as expected later this year, after which hiking rents will become more difficult.
Nearly half of all landlords are planning to put the rent up ahead of the Renters’ Rights Bill becoming law as expected later this year.
Buy-to-let lender Landbay found that 44% of buy-to-let property owners want to raise rents before the bill is enacted.
Landlords with portfolios of between four and 10 properties are most likely to increase their rent (32%), closely followed by those with between 16 and 30 properties (28%), Landbay says.
Properties in the South East are most likely to be affected, followed by those in the North West.
Rents will rise by 6% on average, which will add an additional £74 per month on to the average monthly figure.
Landbay says the decision to increase rents reflects the potential cost implications of new regulation, and especially the continued uncertainty among landlords about the planned removal of Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions.
In a previous survey by Landbay, 75% of landlords expressed concerns about the removal of Section 21, and their ability to remove problem tenants.
Rob Stanton, Sales and Distribution Director at Landbay, stated “this sharp rise in rents in the short term shows the unintended consequence of this new regulation, as landlords look to act now and pre-emptively raise rents in fear of future cost implications or difficulties, and to protect their investments. By forcing the hand of landlords in this way, there is a real risk of worsening the cost-of-living crisis that so many private renters are currently facing.”
Landlord Exodus
Shocking statistics have emerged from a survey of the private rental sector, with the Savills agency claiming there are still 31% fewer properties available to rent in suburban areas than there were in 2018/19.
And across the entire UK, the agency says that analysis of HM Land Registry data shows that last year 5.4 homes were sold by landlords to owner occupiers for every one home bought by landlords from owner occupiers, a 5:1 ratio. This is a much faster rate than as recently as 2021, where the ratio was around 1:1.
The agency adds that all available evidence strongly suggests that small individual landlords are selling their rental properties.
The Savills study goes on to say that a record 26% of landlords sold at least one property in 2024 while just 8% of landlords bought. And the 2024 English Private Landlord Survey (EPLS) suggests more sales to come based on the profile of landlords.
The median age of a landlord is 59 and more than half (53%) have been landlords for over 11 years. The most cited reason for being a landlord is long-term investment to supplement pensions, and many landlords have enjoyed substantial capital appreciation while invested. But the report warns: “Some are now looking to realise these gains as they approach retirement.”
The study hints that while the decline of buy to let has accelerated sharply in the past two years, it’s actually been a long-term trend – albeit at a slower rate.
From 2010 to 2018, the share of homes owned by landlords with just one property halved (40% to 20%) while those with two to four properties, five to nine properties, and 10 to 24 homes all grew their share considerably, according to the EPLS.
The market continued to consolidate from 2018 to 2024, as landlords owning between five and 24 properties increased their share of the market from 33.0% to 35.4%, an extra 153,700 homes.
Savills continues by saying that a shift to larger portfolio sizes is also evident in mortgage data. Between 2018 and 2024, the average number of properties per mortgaged landlord grew from 3.2 to 4.5, according to UK Finance.
The study goes on to show that the shortage of supply has directly led to an increase in rent.
It says: “With a lack of supply and elevated demand, the inevitable consequence is high rents that are growing strongly. At no time was this more evident than the years following the pandemic when demand surged across England and there were fewer properties available to rent on property portals. This peaked in February 2022 when there were 30% fewer listings per letting branch compared to the 2018-19 average. This led to a corresponding increase in average rents, which grew at a peak rate of 12.2% in the 12 months to July 2022.”