The average asking price to rent a home outside London has fallen for the first time since before the COVID pandemic, according to a property website.
Rightmove credited improved levels of rental properties for the welcome shift, but declared that advertised private rents in the capital continued to tick up, for a 13th consecutive quarter, between October to December.
It reported an average sum of £2,695 per calendar month (pcm) for London, though that was only 0.1% higher than the previous quarter.
The rest of Britain had an average newly advertised rent of £1,341 pcm – down 0.2%.
The trend for the country as a whole is of a price slowdown following years of unprecedented growth that has resulted in successive monthly highs.
Rents are currently 4.7% up on a year earlier, the slowest rate of growth since 2021.
The property website said a rising supply of rental homes to choose from was improving the balance of supply and demand, although there were typically still 10 applications being made for every rental property.
It also suggested that many tenants had shifted their focus towards the sales market due to continued steep competition for rentals and as borrowing costs were now down from cost of living crisis peaks.
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Rightmove’s property expert Colleen Babcock said: “While new tenants are still paying more than they were at this time last year, the pace of growth continues to slow.
“However, though this is the big picture of market activity, agents on the ground still tell us that the market is very hot, and some areas have improved more than others when it comes to the supply and demand balance.”
The northeast of England was said to have seen the biggest boost to supply, with Wales the smallest.
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Alex Bloxham, a partner and head of residential lettings at the consultancy Bidwells, said: “These figures suggest landlords are continuing to invest in their buy-to-let portfolios, while more tenants are choosing to stay put, likely due to continued macroeconomic uncertainty and the up-front costs involved in relocating.”
The debt charity StepChange reacted to the figures by saying that they were unlikely to bring any immediate relief to millions of families grappling with higher bills.
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Its recent polling suggested that 22% of people renting privately were always worried about money, with rents just one elevated cost to bear as many other bills such as those for food and energy show little sign of easing.
Water and council tax costs are also due to rise sharply from April.
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The charity’s Richard Lane added: “We’re pleased to see the Renters Rights Bill progressing through parliament, which will end section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions – a long overdue piece of legislation.
“However, we’ve long called for strengthened protections for private renters facing financial hardship.
“Our research shows that a significant proportion of private renters are having to rely on credit just to cover their rent, which is unsustainable and will only trap people in a cycle of problem debt.
“If you are struggling with rent arrears or any other type of debt, free and impartial advice is available from charities like StepChange.”
