Total private rental bill paid by tenants ‘shrinks for first time in a decade’

Private tenants paid an estimated £59.1 billion in rent during 2018, according to an index – marking the first time the total rental bill has shrunk year-on-year in at least a decade.

Across Britain, the total rental bill of £59.1 billion was £1.9 billion less than in 2017, according to Hamptons International, which suggested the decrease was partly due to the amounts some landlords are charging tenants stagnating.

Hamptons International said it was the first annual fall in the estimated total private rental bill since its records started in 2008.

Despite the year-on-year decrease, over the past 10 years the total rent bill has increased by £29.9 billion – as the number of households privately renting has grown, it said.

The only areas of Britain to see increases in the total rent bill over the past year have been the East Midlands and the North East of England, the report said.

Everywhere else saw a fall.

London saw the biggest decrease, with £620 million less paid by tenants than in 2017.

Over the last 10 years, the rental bill increased in every region.

The biggest rise in the amount of rent paid by tenants was in London, where the total rental bill grew by £10.53 billion over the 10-year period.

Wales has seen the smallest rise in the total amount of rent paid by tenants over the last decade, up by £70 million.

In Scotland, the total rental bill has increased by £1.31 billion over the past decade.

Hamptons International used its own figures and Office for National Statistics (ONS) data to make the findings.

Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons International, said a slowdown in growth in rental prices over the past year has mainly been driven by London, but continued: “Rents are now gradually starting to rise again in the capital.”

Here are the total rents paid across Britain in 2018, according to estimates from Hamptons International (figures have been rounded):

– East Midlands, £2.7 billion
– East, £5.0 billion
– North East, £1.3 billion
– North West, £4.3 billion
– Scotland, £2.9 billion
– South East, £8.8 billion
– South West, £4.2 billion
– Wales, £1.5 billion
– West Midlands, £3.3 billion
– Yorkshire and the Humber, £3.3 billion
– London, £20.6 billion