Cost of Living Crisis Adds £22 a Week to Rents

According to the latest industry data - January 2024, the cost of living crisis has added around £22 a week to rents across the country in the past year.

Private renters are digging deep to pay landlords an average of £1,262 a month as rents have soared by 7.4 per cent in a year to the end of January, says tenant referencing agency Homelet.

Meanwhile, the government’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) posted an inflation-busting 6.2 per cent year-on-year increase.

The ONS data shows London had the highest annual price change, up 6.9 per cent, while the lowest was a 4.7 per cent change in the North East. The report says that rental growth has remained unchanged since November and equals other record rate hikes since January 2016.

London renters paying £2,000 a month

The ONS says: “The annual inflation rate of private rental prices in the UK began to increase in the second half of 2021. Annual growth was seen across all regions except London, where prices decreased. The annual percentage change in rents increased across all regions in 2022, including London, which generally continued during 2023.

“In the 12 months to January 2024, rental prices for the UK excluding London increased by 5.9 per cent,  the same annual percentage change as the previous two months. Private rental prices in London account for almost a third of UK rental expenditure.”

Homelet echoes the ONS results, putting average rents 0.2 per cent higher than in January 2024. Breaking the figures down, renters in London pay £2,070 a month—the most expensive rent in the country—while outside the capital, rents are £1,063 a month.

The cheapest UK rents are in the North East, where tenants pay £655 monthly.

UK rents by region

Here’s the Homelet regional rental breakdown:

Source: Homelet

London rents by borough

Homelet also publishes a borough-by-borough rent cost breakdown for London:

Source: Homelet