England

In England, private rental prices increased by 6.0% in the 12 months to October 2023, up from 5.6% in the 12 months to September 2023. When London is excluded from England, private rental prices increased by 5.6% in the 12 months to October 2023. The figures are the highest annual percentage changes since these data series began in January 2006. 

Wales

Private rental prices in Wales increased by 6.9% in the 12 months to October 2023. This was the highest of all the countries in Great Britain and unchanged from the price increase in the 12 months to September 2023.

Private sector measures of annual inflation for new tenancies tends to be higher than the Index of Private Housing Rental Prices’ (IPHRP’s) stock measure during periods of rising annual price inflation. For example, Homelet’s annual inflation for new tenancies in Wales recently rose to 11.0% in the 12 months to March 2023, whereas IPHRP’s stock measure reported a substantially lower annual inflation rate of 4.4% for the same period. The recent rise in the IPHRP’s annual inflation for Wales likely reflects the high annual inflation for new lets during the past year.

However, Homelet’s annual inflation for new tenancies in Wales has generally slowed since it’s peak in the 12 months to March 2023, with new let annual inflation slowing to 7.9% in the 12 months to October 2023. Meanwhile, IPHRP reports that annual inflation of the stock in Wales remained at its record high of 6.9% in the 12 months to October 2023, unchanged from the 12 months to September 2023. Since IPHRP measures rental price changes of the entire privately rented stock, changes in annual inflation of newly let rental prices take time to be reflected in IPHRP’s measure. Our Measuring the UK housing market blog post  provides more detail on the differences between stock and flow measures of rental prices.

Scotland

Private rental prices in Scotland increased by 6.2% in the 12 months to October 2023, up from 6.0% in the 12 months to September 2023, and is at the highest annual rate since the Scotland data series began in January 2012. The Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) Scotland Act has capped in-tenancy rental price increases in Scotland since late 2022 (see Section 7: Measuring the data).

The IPHRP’s stock measure remains substantially below Homelet’s annual inflation of 12.0% for new tenancies in Scotland in the 12 months to October 2023. The continued rise in the IPHRP’s annual inflation for Scotland since this Act was passed is likely to reflect the high annual inflation for new lets (which are not subject to the price cap) over the past year as it continues to feed into IPHRP’s stock measure.

Scotland rents data (underlying the IPHRP’s stock measure) is mainly for advertised new lets, which are not subject to the price cap. We advise users to bear this in mind when interpreting estimates for Scotland and comparing with other UK countries.

Northern Ireland

Private rental prices in Northern Ireland increased by 9.6% in the 12 months to August 2023. After slowing for three consecutive months, the annual rate for Northern Ireland has increased for the last two consecutive months and remains higher than for other UK countries. Northern Ireland data lag behind the rest of the UK and will be updated in our next Index of Private Housing Rental Prices, UK bulletin, to be published on 20 December 2023.