In April, the property rental sector saw rents increase together with tenant income. The month was a new record for take home pay, according to the latest Goodlord Rental Index.
The average cost of rent within England rose from £1,006 to £1,012 which is a 0.5% increase.
Breaking the Rental Index into regions, it appears that the North East say the biggest increase in the cost of rent with prices rising by 2.34%. In March 2022, rent in the North East was at an average of £731.94 and in the following month, the figure stood at £749.04.
The West Midlands followed closely behind the North East with an increase of 0.94% which took the average cost of rent up to £849.781.
Up in the North West region, there was a decrease of -1.65% in the cost of rent. This was the only region in England to see a decrease.
As I mentioned earlier in this article, tenant income has also increased alongside rental prices, according to the data provided.
The Goodlord Rental Index indicated that the average salary of a tenant living in England rose from £29,549 to £30,044 (1.7%). This is the highest average recorded to date.
As expected, renters in London are earning the most with an average of £44,920,38 (5.9% increase from March 2022) being taken home per year. In the North West, where the only decrease in rental prices was seen, the average salary stands at £24,403.69.
The East Midlands region saw a decrease in the average salary from March 2022, to April 2022 which was a -6% decrease.
Tom Mundy, COO of Goodlord (a lettings management platform), said: “The rental market continues to move apace. Rents are at the top end of what we’d expect for this time of year, but tenant salaries are keeping pace with this rise and continue to break records. And whilst voids have lengthened compared to March, all the signs point to a very buoyant market with a high demand for available housing stock.”
Supporting the Goodlord Rental Index are the latest figures from the Deposit Protection Service (DPS) Rent Index.
Alongside their supportive data, they have also discovered that some tenants are in fact paying above the going rate in order to secure a property. According the data, 15% of respondents claim that they paid more than the advertised rent to secure the property.
Looking further into those that have overpaid, 43% said that they were desperate to secure a property, 26% said there was nothing else available, 11% said that the agent asked them for a best offer and 11% said that they overpaid simply because they loved the property.
Matt Trevett, managing director at the DPS, commented: “Consistent quarterly rent rises – coupled with survey results that suggest that a proportion of tenants are overpaying to secure a property – underline the current intense demand for, and tight supply of, rental homes in the UK.”