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Sir Keir Starmer insists a Labour government will prioritise making housing more affordable by increasing the supply of new homes and making bidding wars illegal.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live last week that if he won the election this week the party would “tackle the rented sector”.
“You know, private landlords tend to pit tenants and prospective tenants against each other, driving up rents, so rents go up and up,” he said.
“Young people and people who want to buy their own homes are paying a huge amount of their income on rent. We have to stop that from happening,” he explained.
“There are more people needing rentals than there are properties to rent, so rents are only going to rise and prices are skyrocketing,” he added.
Starmer’s claims are backed up by recent in-depth analysis of rental market trends carried out by Goodroads.
According to the Rental Index, rents in June 2024 increased by 6.7% year-on-year, with the average rent per property for leases confirmed in June reaching £1,225 per calendar month (pcm).
Regionally, the biggest year-on-year increase was recorded in the South West, where prices rose from £1,191/month to £1,347/month in 2023. This is an increase of 13%.
In London, rents have breached the £2,000 per month mark for the first time this year, with the average rent for a London property in June being £2,010 per month, up 2% year-on-year.
June is traditionally the start of the “high season” for rentals. Fueled by student demand, rents usually peak between June and September. Last year, rents peaked in July at an average of £1,367 per property per month.
Every year since 2019, the Rental Index has recorded an increase in rental prices between June and July, with further increases in rental prices expected next month.
Goodlord said average rents rose 4% month-on-month between May and June, from £1,183/month to £1,225/month, with rent increases recorded in all regions except one.
The highest monthly increase was in the Southwest (14%), followed by the Northeast (4%) and Northwest (4%).
The lowest monthly increases were in the South East (1%) and Greater London (1%).
The West Midlands saw a slight fall in average rental prices (-0.42%).
In tandem with the rise in rents, vacancy periods fell significantly in June: the average vacancy period (the number of days a property remains vacant between leases) was 17 days in June, down 19% from 21 days in May.
However, June’s average of 17 days was slightly longer than the 16-day void period recorded in June 2023 at the same time last year.
“There’s been a lot of debate about whether the pace of rent growth is starting to slow. This debate will be settled over the next three months, when rents typically reach their highest levels for the year,” said Goodroad CEO William Reeve.
“At the moment, if the current trend of rents increasing by 6-7% year-on-year this year continues, new records will be broken across England. And many indications now suggest this may happen, but rents would need to rise significantly over the next four to eight weeks to surpass the 2023 average. However, it is fair to say that market demand clearly remains very strong and this will continue to drive monthly rent increases.”