London’s asking rents hit a new record average of £2,119 per calendar month as the ongoing shortage of property for tenants continues to increase rents.

Data from Rightmove suggests that rents in the capital are up by 4.2 per cent over the last year and 45 per cent up over the past decade.

In comparison, the rest of Great Britain sees rents up 2.4 per cent year-on-year and 24 per cent over the last 10 years.

“We’ve seen a lack of rental properties coming to market in London over the last 18 months and that keeps feeding through into rising rents and another new record this quarter” explains Rightmove’s commercial director and housing market analyst Miles Shipside.

“New supply coming to market is constrained by a lack of new landlords, and existing tenants staying longer. Tenants are less likely to swap their existing rental for another as their other options on the open market are likely to be more expensive than sticking with their current landlord” he continues.

In cash terms, average rents have risen by nearly £160 per calendar month nationally outside London in the last 10 years.

In the capital the figure is much higher, with London now £658 pcm more expensive than a decade ago. Conversely, the North East is where rents have risen the least, with average asking rents increasing by 8.4% to £601 pcm since 2009.

Shipside adds: “London, in particular, has some rent increase hotspots due to a shortage of stock with existing and new landlords deterred by the additional three per cent stamp duty when buying rental investments. On top of London’s high purchase prices this is a substantial extra sum. The lack of reasonably priced choice and rising rents for London’s tenants looks set to continue. At present, the only growth in supply is coming from the institutional Build To Rent sector.”

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