Goodlord has revealed that England saw the highest average rental cost in July since the launch of its Rental Index in January 2019.
Hitting £1,367 per property, the latest figures show a 9.4% increase from the previous record set in September 2022 at £1,249.
According to Goodlord the uptake in prices may be due to July, August and September being traditionally busy with student lets alongside rising interest rates and a lack of stock.
July’s average cost of rent was 19% higher than in June, while the average month-on-month increase during the year to date is 1.3%.
The biggest month-on-month increases were in the North West at 48.22% (£917 to £1,358), and the South West at 44.85% (£1,191 to £1,725), while London saw the smallest increase at 1.06% (£1,965 to £1,986).
The survey also showed the West Midlands is currently the cheapest region for renters, with Greater London being the most expensive.
As the cost of rent spiked, voids dropped by 43.8% to hit an average of nine days in July, down from 16 days in June — the lowest ever void rate recorded by the Goodlord’s index.
William Reeve, CEO at Goodlord, said: “In July we do usually expect to see an increase in rents and a reduction in voids, and all indicators pointed to a particularly red-hot summer for the rental market, if not the weather.
“So while the 10% year-on-year increase is a big shift, the sharp drop in void periods is also particularly surprising.
“Digging into the data, we can see a large number of multiple occupancy student lets being confirmed during July, which has pushed up average prices in key regions such as the North East and South West.
“Traditionally rental costs continue to increase until September before cooling off in the autumn, which could mean these aren’t the last records we’ll see broken before the year is out.”
