LONDON (CU)_Household budgets in the UK are already strained by rising food and energy costs, which are expected to push a significant number of families into poverty. While rising energy bills and a massive food price hike was already forcing many people to choose between eating and heating, now it has been revealed that they may also have to worry about having a roof over their heads.
This is after a recent study found that private rents in Britain are rising at a record rate, with a 14 per cent annual increase in London and by more than 19 per cent in hotspots like Manchester. According to property website, tenants are grappling with “the most competitive rental market ever recorded”, as the annual growth in the average advertised rent outside London exceeded 10 per cent for the first time, to 10.8 per cent. Accordingly, the average rent now stands at a whopping £1,088 a month, up from £982 a year ago. In the capital city, the average asking price rose by £274 to £2,193 a month, from a year ago. This was “the biggest annual jump of any region since records began,” Rightmove said.
According to the property site, the record increases were a result of demand exceeding supply at a record level, with available rental properties being outnumbered by prospective buyers by more than one to three. Several pandemic-related factors, among others, have been blamed for this, with many tenants now reconsidering what they want from a home and how close they intend to live to work. Rightmove also revealed that some agents and landlords say tenants are signing longer leases, which was also limiting stock available in the market.
While overall average rents are now 15 per cent higher from two years ago when the first COVID wave was reported, a number of rental hotspots were highlighted by the website. Swansea in south Wales topped the table with an annual growth of 19.7 per cent in typical asking rent, followed by Manchester, at 19.3 per cent. An annual rise of 17.1 per cent was registered in Liverpool, while Margate in Kent, Grantham in Lincolnshire and Cardiff were also among the hotspots, with annual growth rates of 18.8 per cent, 14.6 per cent and 14.5 per cent, respectively.
