The average rent in the UK for January 2022 was £1,064, up 8.5% on January 2021’s figure, and a 0.4% rise from last month.
Excluding London, the average rent was at £897.
In London, rents rose by 0.5% since December, up to £1,760 – 12.6% higher than in January 2021.
Eight of the twelve regions saw a month-on-month price rise, however, Northern Ireland, Wales, Yorkshire & Humberside and the North East all saw a drop in average price since December.
The North West saw the largest month-on-month increase, rising 1.3% to £855.
The North East is the cheapest area to rent in the UK, with the average rent now at £578, down 0.3% compared to last month.
Commenting on the latest data, CEO Andy Halstead had the following to say:
“As expected, 2022 has started as 2021 ended, with an imbalance between supply and demand, and inevitably that has brought on price rises, that will likely continue in the coming months.
“There are some caveats, though. Although we have seen another record high rental price this month, we must consider inflation rates, a topic that has been discussed heavily in the past couple of weeks. Based on the latest inflation figures, the month-on-month rent increases have been lower than the wider inflation rate, indicating a level of steady growth.
“The private rental sector has played a key role in the UK throughout the pandemic, and we hope that the government will make things easier for landlords in 2022 to allow them to continue playing a key role in the coming months and years.”
Andy Halstead, HomeLet and Let Alliance Chief Executive Officer
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The Rental Index data is qualified through high-quality tenant referencing, carried out on behalf of over 4,500 UK letting agents. As a group we reference over 1m tenants a year, enabling reporting on newly agreed tenancy applications, with historic data for over 13m tenancy applications.