Tenants in London are now paying more than twice the average rent, analysis by BM Solutions has confirmed.
London renters are now paying an average of £1,417 per calendar month, 102 per cent more than the national average of £701.
Overall, the average monthly rent increased from £674 per month (pm) in the second half of 2012 to £701 pm for the same period in 2013.
Renters in the South East face the second highest average rent (£913 pm), followed by those in the South West (£749). Renters in the North paid amongst the lowest rents in the country, (£501 pm), which is around a third of the average rent paid in London. This is closely followed by renters in Yorkshire and the Humber (£527) and Wales (£530)
Londoners also saw the greatest increase in rents in cash terms, at £135 pm. However, as a percentage of what they paid in the second half of 2012, renters in Wales saw average monthly rents rise by 10.6 per cent (or £51 pm) in the half year to December 2013. This is closely followed by London (10.5 per cent), and Yorkshire and the Humber (7.0 per cent). In contrast, in the West Midlands average monthly rents fell marginally (-1.4 per cent).
Investors
Whilst buy to let (BTL) investors have seen rental income grow by 4 per cent in the second half of 2013 their profit is not increasing at the same rate. Average gross rental yields fell to 5.5 per cent in the second half of 2013 from 5.6 per cent compared to the previous year.
Phil Rickards, head of BM Solutions, comments: “Demand for rental accommodation remains strong, and in many regions this is outstripping supply which can lead to an upward pressure on rent prices.
“However our figures show that even with increasing rents, the average yield that investors are getting has remained static, which will be driven by the fact that the average price of a typical buy to let property has grown marginally faster that average rents.”
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