Rents hit another record high as landlords brace for potential tax changes – London Wallet

The average advertised rent for new properties coming to the market has hit a new quarterly record, with the average rent outside of London now £1,344 per calendar month (pcm), according to the latest Rental Trends Tracker from Rightmove.

This marks a 5.2% increase from a year ago, though it is the slowest rate of growth seen since 2021.

In London, rents have also reached a new record, with an average of £2,694pcm, reflecting a 2.5% rise compared to last year.

Both national and London price trends are in line with Rightmove’s end-of-year prediction for advertised rent growth, with advertised rents predicted to be 5% higher by the end of 2024 outside of London, and 3% higher in London.

The balance between supply and demand continues to improve compared with last year, but local letting agents are still very busy with high numbers of tenants looking to move.

The average number of tenant enquiries for each rental property available has fallen to 15, down from 23 at this time last year, but still nearly double the eight recorded in 2019. Meanwhile the number of available rental properties is now 13% higher than last year, though still 27% below 2019.

More than a fifth (21%) of rental properties are currently seeing a reduction in the advertised rental price before finding a tenant. This compares to 16% last year and is the highest figure at this time of year since 2020.

It appears that some landlords are bracing themselves for a potential capital gains tax rise in the Autumn Budget, and the challenge of complying with upcoming changes to EPC regulations confirmed by the new government, with every rental property needing a minimum EPC C rating by 2030.

A record proportion of former rental homes are currently on the market for sale, Rightmove’s real-time data shows that 18% of homes for sale were previously available to rent, compared with 8% in 2010.

Rightmove’s latest Greener Homes report reveals that 2.9 million rental properties need upgrades to meet an EPC C rating, with an estimated cost of £23.4bn, or £8,074 per property.

Rightmove’s survey of over 14,000 home-owners and renters, along with over 1,000 landlords also found that while half (50%) of landlords are concerned that the government will introduce costly charges for not meeting EPC requirements, one in five (19%) renters think stricter energy efficiency regulations should be the top priority for the new government.

Rightmove says it hopes to see measures from the government, either in the Budget or near future, that would encourage landlords to stay in the market, and help them with the transition to greener homes, providing much-needed homes for tenants.

Rightmove’s Tim Bannister said: “While we’re seeing some signs of improvement in the market’s chronic levels of demand and supply imbalance helped by a slight increase in the number of available rental properties, affordability remains a key challenge for renters as prices continue to hit new records. Tenant competition has eased slightly from last year, but the market is still far from balanced.

“We are seeing some landlords choosing to exit the market with potential tax changes and stricter EPC regulations as additional factors in landlords’ decision-making. With rental supply under strain, incentivizing landlords to invest in energy-efficient upgrades or offering tax relief could help maintain rental supply and, ultimately, ease affordability pressures for tenants.”