UK rents dip as landlords saturate market in southeast
UK asking rents outside London fell 0.2% in the three months to September, the first dip for the period in Rightmove data going back to 2011. It revealed a glut of properties had reduced prices in the southeast by 2.3%, while the average rent in the northeast rose 2.6% to £564 ($747) per month. Across the UK, the national average monthly rent in September was £789. A third of UK households were renting from either private or social landlords at the end of last year, according to official figures.

Rents in Britain dropped in the final summer months for the first time in at least five years, according to Rightmove.

National asking rents outside London fell by 0.2% in the three months to September, which is one of the busiest times of year for tenants looking for a new home. It was the first fall at this time of year since Rightmove started tracking rents in late 2011.

The decline comes as landlords flood the south-east of England with newly available rental properties, distorting the national picture, as they turn away from a stuttering London property market.

The glut of homes available to rent pushed down rents in the south-east by 2.3% in the period. Average rents rose in every other UK region apart from Greater London and Yorkshire and the Humber.

The biggest quarterly increase came in the north-east, where the average asking rent rose by 2.6% to £564 per month.

Britain’s housing market is looking increasingly broken amid a chronic shortage of new homes. Young people are particularly hard hit, with millennials spending three times more of their income on housing than their grandparents, often for worse quality accommodation, according to the Resolution Foundation.

The proportion of households privately renting in the UK has ballooned in the past 20 years. According to official figures, around 65% of UK households were owner-occupiers at the end of 2016, while 17% were renting from a private landlord and 18% from a social landlord.

Theresa May pledged an additional £2bn a year to councils and housing associations for affordable homes in her speech to the Conservative party conference in Manchester last week.

Rightmove’s head of lettings, Sam Mitchell, said more landlords were acquiring homes immediately outside London, therefore increasing the supply of available property and pushing down rents. “Agents are reporting that some investors looking for better yields are shifting their focus from London,” he said.



Areas such as Surrey, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire are among the most popular for landlords seeking investments outside of London. Prices have not fallen as much in areas with good commuter links, where demand remains strong.

Asking rents in the capital fell at an annual rate of 3.3% in September to an average of £1,920 per month. The average asking rent per month across the country in September was £789.

However, Mitchell said he expected the cost of renting to increase in London due to the supply of available accommodation decreasing as landlords look elsewhere for investments.