Annual private rents in the UK rose by 7.7% in March.

That’s according to data from the government’s Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR). It’s a drop of 0.4% from February, with the biggest rise in rental inflation in the North East at 9.4%. It’s the first time in two years that the highest rental inflation rise wasn’t in London, which saw a 9.1% jump. Landlords in Yorkshire and The Humber saw the lowest annual rental inflation, at 4.6%.

England has highest private rental inflation

Country-wide, average rents rose by 7.8% to £1,386 in England (an increase of £101 compared to a year earlier). The jump was 8.9% in Wales to £792 and 5.7% in Scotland to £1,001. Figures to January 2025 saw rents in Northern Ireland increase by 8.2% to £838. 

In terms of individual local authorities, the highest average rent in the UK was in London’s Kensington and Chelsea where tenants were paying around £3,639. The lowest rent was in Dumfries in Galloway in Scotland, at £528. The highest average rent outside the capital was in Elmbridge in the South East, with a cost of £1,893.

Cost of average property up more than 5%

The cost of the average UK property came in at £268,000. This was an increase of 5.4% and an annual monthly jump of 0.6%. In England the average property is now priced at £292,000, This compares to £207,000 in Wales and £186,000 in Scotland.

Property being ‘snapped up’ in 19 days

Meanwhile, the end of the Stamp Duty holiday hasn’t put paid to the British public’s appetite for moving home if Zoopla’s latest report is anything to go by. 

The portal points out that in Waltham Forest in North East London, properties are selling within 19 days of being on the market. And the UK average isn’t bad either – with most properties selling within around 36 days. Property in some of the larger cities, such as Manchester, Gateshead, and Carlisle are also selling fast – mostly within 32 days.