The latest Your Move England & Wales Buy to Let Index has found that rents grew in all-but-one region in the year to January 2017.
Across the whole of England and Wales rents increased by 1% in the last 12 months, despite dropping back slightly between December and January. The average property let for £798 in the first month of 2017. This compares to a figure of £790 at the same point a year ago.
The rental market performed strongly across England and Wales this month with rents rising in eight of the nine regions surveyed, Your Move found.
The East of England was home to the fastest rising rents in the last year. Prices in this area increased by 6.9% in the year to January 2017 and now stand at £870 per month. This region also saw the fastest growth month-on-month with rents ticking up 0.7% between December and January.
Your Move said that prices in this area may have been buoyed by people living in London looking beyond the capital city in order to meet their housing aspirations.
Other areas to see strong growth included Wales – where prices increased by 6.5%, in the past 12 months to reach £586 – and the East Midlands, which saw a 4.5% uplift compared to a year ago. The average property in this region – which includes major cities such as Derby, Leicester and Nottingham – now lets for £634 per calendar month.
The South West was the only area to see a fall in rents in the last year. Prices in this region dropped by 1.6% in the year to January 2017 and now stand at £661. Rents did increase slightly between December and January, however.
Just two areas saw prices fall month-on-month. They were London (-0.4%), and the North West (-0.1%). Despite this setback, London continues to have the most expensive properties in this survey, with the average rent standing at £1,286 in the capital city.
Across the whole of England and Wales the average rent stood at £798 in January 2017. Last month this figure was £811 while at the same point in 2016 it was £790.
Valerie Bannister, lettings director at Your Move, said: “The start of a new year brought renewed confidence for the rental market in England and Wales.
“Rents in nearly every region surveyed have increased compared to the same point last year.”
Your Move found that yields continue to be squeezed in most areas of England and Wales, with all regions recording lower returns than at the same point a year ago.
