Average monthly rent for home outside London ‘now more than £800’

The average monthly rent being charged for a home outside London has topped £800 for the first time, according to a study.

Rightmove’s rental tracker found that, across Britain and excluding London, the average asking rent for a home in the third quarter of 2018 had reached £802.

It is the first time Rightmove has seen average rental asking prices outside London surpass £800 in its records going back to 2011.

Within London, the average rent being asked for a home is £1,992 per month, according to Rightmove’s figures.

A lack of available rental homes is a factor pushing prices up, the company said.

Fewer property investors have been purchasing buy-to-let properties – with tax changes, including a stamp duty hike, being blamed for eating into landlords’ profits.

Rightmove said there are 8.7% fewer rental properties marked as available compared with this time last year.

Rightmove’s commercial director, Miles Shipside, said: “Rental demand is currently outstripping supply in many locations, especially in the capital.

“The exit of more landlords from the buy-to-let market in recent years has been due to a raft of different factors, from the more onerous tax regime and more stringent borrowing criteria, to the higher stamp duty on second home purchases and extra legal obligations.

“What we’re left with is a lack of available homes for tenants looking to find their next place to rent, meaning that when the right kind of property does come along it isn’t sticking around for very long before it’s snapped up.”

Rightmove said the average rental home stays on the market for 35 days before being let.

Mr Shipside added: “Private landlords should try and look beyond the current challenges if they can and stay in the sector.

“If they concentrate on improving the spec of their existing properties and buy better quality accommodation to add to their portfolios, tenant demand should steadily improve rental yields.”

He said that to keep good tenants, landlords should be open to negotiating longer tenancy agreements, perhaps with rental price increases which do not rise above the rate of inflation.