According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), in December 2022, rents across the UK increased by over 10% year-on-year. Even excluding rents above £2000 in the London area, the rate of increase in rents is around 9% per year. This causes the average tenant to have to rent 35% of their salary. This is the highest point in rents for over a decade.
It is stated that as of December last year, there has been an annual increase of 4% in housing rents in the capital, London. Similarly, it was stated that there was an increase of 3.5% in Wales, 4.4% in Scotland, and 9.6% in Northern Ireland. It was stated that housing prices in the country increased by 10.3% annually in December last year. While this is promising, lower than the 12.4% increase in November, it’s not enough for many people.
The Poorest Saw the Steepest Rents Increases
Prices in the UK’s housing rental sector, which accounts for roughly one in five households, have rocketed in the past two years as a post-Covid surge in demand met with a shortage of homes available in the market. That is weighing particularly heavily on people with the lowest incomes. Almost a quarter of households in the poorest 10% of the country rent privately. These families’ rental costs rise by 50% between 2012 and 2022, a faster increase than any other group.
“The growth in the rental industry over the past decade has resulted in fewer young people buying their own homes, especially in less affluent areas,” said Aneisha Beveridge, a Hamptons researcher.
Beveridge said government initiatives to increase homeownership often help the wealthiest, adding that uncertainty over borrowing costs also worries homeowners and new buyers.
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