Map of the UK and Ireland under a magnifying glass

Regional rents grow while London stalls following Brexit vote

Rental growth in the regions of England has outstripped that of London since the vote to leave the EU in June 2016.

And although the country outside of the capital has seen rents go up, the overall rate of growth is at its lowest in nearly six years.

The new figures from Landbay show that in England’s regions, rents have grown by 3.69% since the referendum. But at the same time, London has witnessed barely any growth with a rate of just 0.52%. Further analysis shows just how the uncertainty over Brexit has affected the London rental scene, where annual rental growth had fallen back by -0.31% a year after the vote.

They recovered from that low point, but the current rate is 0.67%, with a cumulative figure of 0.52% since the momentous decision by the British people.

Steady growth in Scotland

In the rest of the country, the current annual rate is 1.11%, the lowest since January 2013. Rents in Scotland have been growing for six months, and at £746 the average is not far short of the figure for England minus London of £776.

Reflecting on the figures and what they say about the current rental market, John Goodall, CEO and founder of Landbay, says:

“Falling rents in London have masked relatively strong growth in the rest of the UK since the Brexit vote, but we are now firmly in the midst of a nationwide rental growth slowdown.”

“This may be some relief to renters, but the cost of renting a property remains high. House prices continue to outpace wage growth, dampening the ability of aspiring homeowners to save for a property of their own, meaning demand for rented accommodation remains robust.

‘Government needs to tackle housing shortage fast’

“Without a radical house building plan for both first-time buyers and purpose-built rental properties, there is no way supply will ever be able to catch up with demand. The government needs to act fast, especially in times of economic and political uncertainty the private rental sector is more important than ever.

“Landlords and brokers alike need to be tuned into these variations in order to maximise their profits, using variations in rental growth and yields over the past year to pick out some of the most promising regions for buy-to-let.”

Zoopla recently found that Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool had seen the price of a house rise in double-digits since the Brexit vote. Mirroring these rental stats, London has recorded an overall rise of just 1% over the same period.

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