The cost of renting increased by 1.8% in Greater London in January – pushing average prices up to £1,968 in the capital.
Elsewhere prices increased by 1.5% in the North West month-on-month, the rental index from Goodlord shows.
William Reeve, chief executive at Goodlord, said: “We don’t expect to see huge market movements in January; the pace of new tenancies tends to take a few weeks to pick up post-Christmas.
“So to see this uptick in month-on-month rents – as well as the consistently sizeable year-on-year rises – is a sign that the market isn’t cooling down anytime soon.
“In addition, with a new burst of activity on the sales side of the housing market, we could start to see some interesting knock-off effects on the lettings side in the coming months which could bring additional turbulence.”
Year-on-year regional shifts
Looking at the year-on-year data for January 2024 vs. January 2023, the biggest increase in rents has been seen in the North West. Here, rents are up by 9% compared to the same time last year.
The smallest difference is found in the East Midlands, although rents in the region have still increased by 5.5% year-on-year.
Voids increase during January, but are down year-on-year
Void periods – the average length of time a property is vacant between tenancies – lengthened during January; moving from 20 days in December to 22 days over the last month.
Despite this increase, voids are down when comparing year-on-year trends. In January 2023, void lengths sat at 23 days on average across England.
The longest void periods can currently be found in the East Midlands (28 days) and the shortest in Greater London (18 days).