Taylor Scott International News
Rental price growth across the UK continued to ease in September, with twice as many regions in the UK seeing rental price falls than those recording an increase in rental prices, the latest figures show. Overall eight regions saw rental prices fall, taking the average monthly price, excluding London to £728 while in London it is now £1,466, according to the September 2014 HomeLet Rental Index. The index, which is described as the largest monthly survey of private tenants in the UK, has shown a modest cooling in the rental market for the second month in a row, with UK regions such as Greater London, the South East, South West and East Anglia, that have recently reported large month on month price increases, moving to slower growth and a greater proportion of regions reporting negative price movement. In September only four regions recorded rental price growth. In Greater London there was a rise of 0.1%, the West Midlands up 1.2%, the South West up 2% and Northern Ireland up 4.2%. This is 50% fewer than the number of regions reporting growth in August where six regions delivered rental price growth and six recorded falls. While the annual data still points to a rental market averaging largely positive growth, this month’s data has shown the number of UK regions recording annual negative rental growth doubling from two to four. Scotland, Wales, the North East of England and the East Midlands now show rental prices are lower now than a year ago. ‘There can be an element of seasonality to the rental market with September often recording marginally lower average prices than other months, perhaps due to the number of student letting agreements being signed at this time of year,’ said Martin Totty, chief executive officer of the Barbon Insurance Group of which HomeLet is a part. ‘However, with this month’s data being the second consecutive month of slower rental price growth, and house prices indices indicating a slowing of house price growth, which could suggest movement to a period of more settled rental prices, even in previously booming markets such as London and the South East,’ he added. A breakdown of the figures show that in Greater London rental prices have increased to £1,466, a monthly rise of 0.1% and an annual rise of 9.6%. In the South East prices fell month on month by 0.1% to an average of £908 but are up 7.2% year on year. The South West saw average rental prices rise by 2% month on month to £868 and are up 8.1% year on year while in the West Midlands they increased by 1.2% month on month to £656 and are up 8.3% year on year. In East Anglia average rents fell 1.4% month on month to £826 but are 11.3% above a year ago while in the East Midlands they fell 1.2% month on month to £585 and are 1.2% down year… Taylor Scott International
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