UK UK Rents Jump £221/Month Since 2021: Tenants Feel the Squeeze

[webfact]

File photo for reference only

 

In a startling development, renting a home in the UK now costs £221 more each month than it did three years ago, according to a study by property portal Zoopla. This spike has serious repercussions, with tenants making career choices and familial financial support decisions based on escalating rental costs. The hike in rents mirrors the typical rise in mortgage payments for homeowners.

 

Increased rental costs are largely due to high tenant demand while the available rental properties have stagnated or decreased. Zoopla's analysis, shared with the BBC, reports that rents for new tenancies have surged by 21%, amounting to an average monthly increase of £221. This spring, the average rent peaked at £54,264.

 

For some renters, the financial pressure has led to turning down job opportunities or relocating. Neysa Killeen, working in musical theatre, recounted having to reject a promising school job due to insufficient wages to cover Dublin's rent. Similar struggles continue as she now considers yet another move to manage costs in northern England.

 

Parents like Karen are stepping in, providing financial assistance to their grown children amid soaring rents. Her son, a father and a professional, relies on parental support due to the unsustainable cost of living. However, this dependency is challenged by Karen's upcoming retirement, raising concerns about the longevity of such support.

 

Savills' Lucian Cook notes the increasing trend of parents acting as guarantors for rental agreements. Furthermore, informal financial assistance has become commonplace as rental growth outpaces incomes. Aneisha Beveridge from Hamptons highlights a noticeable delay in young people leaving their family homes, driven by exorbitant rental increases.

 

Despite the sobering statistics, there's a flicker of hope for renters. Zoopla reports a slowdown in rent hikes, especially in cities. Yearly growth in new tenancy rents has declined to 2.8% from last year's 6.4%. Cities like Leeds, Dundee, and areas of London are witnessing declining prices, although rents continue climbing in more affordable areas near major cities, such as Wigan and Blackburn.

 

Comparing renters to homeowners, both have seen similar financial strains, with mortgage payments rising by an average of £218. However, homeowners often possess larger properties, with the added benefit of reducing debt through each payment—a luxury typically unavailable to renters.

 

As rent growth begins to ease in certain locales, the long-term effects on living arrangements and financial planning remain to be seen, impacting both individual renters and the wider housing market.

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from BBC 2025-07-23

 

 

 

[Nick Carter icp]

 

The Government imposes more burdens on Landlords .

Landlords sell their properties and invest elsewhere 

The number of rentals decrease

Rents go up

[baansgr]

All due to 0% interest rates

[Chomper Higgot]

Corporations buying up the residential housing stock and jacking up rents, just like they have in the US.

[blaze master]

Totally sustainable.

[Harsh Jones]

1 hour ago, blaze master said:

Totally sustainable.

The sad part is, it is sustainable. That moment of adjustment that makes things correct and revert back to the mean, never comes. 

[JonnyF]

Supply and demand.

 

Add a million or so immigrants and the demand for houses increases. Hence rents increase along with property prices. 

 

Nobody said cultural enrichment was free. 

[koolkarl]

All governments keep brainwashing you that there is no inflation so they can keep interest rates at absurd levels for their benefit.  Then you

get nuclear bubbles in everything, in particular, housing.  

[newbee2022]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

available rental properties have stagnated or decreased

Well, that's because of more applicants. There is a higher demand than offers,  but also increasing costs if living.

[hotandsticky]

6 minutes ago, koolkarl said:

All governments keep brainwashing you that there is no inflation so they can keep interest rates at absurd levels for their benefit.  Then you

get nuclear bubbles in everything, in particular, housing.  

 

 

If there was no inflation then interest rates would remain at absurdly low levels.

 

The UK housing market is largely dictated by supply and demand.

[JonnyF]

2 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Corporations buying up the residential housing stock and jacking up rents, just like they have in the US.

 

Damn that pesky Capitalism. 😄 

 

I assume you'd prefer a model whereby private property is owned by the state "on behalf of the people". I think there's a name for that model? Also starts with a C.

 

However what you claim is the cause of this is a drop in the ocean compared to the real reason. A MASSIVE increase in demand caused by excessive legal and illegal immigration. Plus a limited supply caused by government failues to build (or allow others to build) houses. High demand plus low supply = high prices. 

 

 

 

[hotandsticky]

7 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

 

Damn that pesky Capitalism. 😄 

 

I assume you'd prefer a model whereby private property is owned by the state "on behalf of the people". I think there's a name for that model? Also starts with a C.

 

However what you claim is the cause of this is a drop in the ocean compared to the real reason. A MASSIVE increase in demand caused by excessive legal and illegal immigration. Plus a limited supply caused by government failures to build (or allow others to build) houses. High demand plus low supply = high prices. 

 

 

 

 

 

Whilst I agree with most of that, immigration is not the sole cause. In the early 2000's John Prescot identified a need for 1m new homes in East Anglia - the recession that followed soon after didn't take away that demand - it just deferred it.

[newbee2022]

47 minutes ago, koolkarl said:

All governments keep brainwashing you that there is no inflatio

Do you have examples? 

Are you able to name some governments telling their people there is no inflation? 😳😳😳

[StayinThailand2much]

That's a problem in most Western countries; uncontrolled mass immigration, but hardly any new housing being built...

[The Cyclist]

3 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Corporations buying up the residential housing stock and jacking up rents, just like they have in the US.

 

Regardless of whether these properties are bought by individual or Corporations, they are on the market as rentals.

 

10 million people arriving, with no comparable building in houses and infrastructure, pushes up prices.

 

Basic supply and demand. The rental value is only as high as people are willing to pay.

 

Throw the blame wherever you like. You cannot blame the basics of supply and demand.

[Chomper Higgot]

36 minutes ago, The Cyclist said:

 

Regardless of whether these properties are bought by individual or Corporations, they are on the market as rentals.

 

10 million people arriving, with no comparable building in houses and infrastructure, pushes up prices.

 

Basic supply and demand. The rental value is only as high as people are willing to pay.

 

Throw the blame wherever you like. You cannot blame the basics of supply and demand.

The rise of Corporate landlords in the UK is reducing competition and increasing rents:

 

https://www.property118.com/the-rise-of-corporate-landlords-are-we-heading-toward-a-rent-monopoly/

[The Cyclist]

7 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

The rise of Corporate landlords in the UK is reducing competition and increasing rents:

 

Are you trying to deny that regardless of Corporate or Private Landlords, these properties are available for rent ?
 

Are you trying to deny the basic laws of Supply and demand ?

 

Give us the benefit of your wealth of knowledge and experience, by telling us who the UK's largest Corporate Property owner is, and how many properties they own.

 

I'll give you hint, they own less than 2 months worth of Illegals arriving across the Channel.

[JonnyF]

27 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

The rise of Corporate landlords in the UK is reducing competition and increasing rents:

 

https://www.property118.com/the-rise-of-corporate-landlords-are-we-heading-toward-a-rent-monopoly/

 

Nice attempt to promote a Communist model.

 

Home ownership is around 65% in the UK.

 

Of the remaining 35% that are rented, around 3% of those have corporate landords. While rents do tend to increase with corporate landlords, so does the standard of the property and the maintenance of the property. If people don't want to use the "high price, high service, high quality" model of corporate landlords, they can rent from the other 97% of properties that are owned by private landlords.

 

Assuming of course, there are any houses available at an affordable price after the Labour government has housed  the millions of immigrants that have arrived in the last decade (spoiler alert - there won't be). 

 

Corporate landlords are hardly taking over the market at 3%, although I understand that would suit your narrative of promoting state owned housing (or to be more accurate, state owned everything - especially the means of production).

[klauskunkel]

Quote

UK Rents Jump £221/Month Since 2021: Tenants Feel the Squeeze

Can't they just all move into government sponsored hotels for free? I mean these are voters after all...

[Will B Good]

 

 

My tenant's defence to the court (a section 21) was that he couldn't find anywhere as nice to live for the rent he was currently paying......555

[chickenslegs]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

This spring, the average rent peaked at £54,264.

What!?