UK Rental Conditions
Rental conditions are now the softest in five years. Demand has contracted by 24% versus last year, a function of lower inward migration and improved mortgage access for first-time buyers who might otherwise have remained in the rental market. Concurrently, stock has increased by almost 20% as fresh investment returns and some sales instructions are temporarily re-purposed as lets. This expansion in supply is broad-based, though less pronounced in London.
Rental Growth Slows
With more choice and less competitive tension, rental growth has moderated. New-let rents are 2.4% higher year-on-year he slowest rate since 2020 and a handful of markets, including Leeds and Bristol, have already seen modest declines as they rebalance.
Forward guidance points not to contraction but to normalisation. Rents are expected to close 2025 around 2–3% higher.
Key Facts
• Average UK rent on new lets (July 2025, published September): £1,301
• Annual growth on new lets: 2.4%, slowest in four years
