As a result of purchasers being priced out of mortgages due to increases in interest rates and the cost of living continues to climb, rental prices continue to go up in the UK. But where can one find the most affordable places to rent in the UK? Yahoo Finance is conducting an investigation.
According to information obtained from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), the annual percentage increase in the cost of rent paid by renters in the UK was 4.2% for the year ending in December 2022. This was an increase from 4.0% in the previous year leading up to November 2022.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), this is the “highest yearly percentage change since this UK series started in January 2016.”
But where can one find the most affordable places to rent in the UK?
According to the ONS, the monthly rent in the North East of England is the least expensive in England, coming in at the lowest recorded price of £795 per month.
According to research conducted by the property consulting website Move IQ, the town of Shildon, which is located in County Durham, has the lowest average monthly rent in all of England, coming in at only £376. (pcm).
According to Move IQ, the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the London region was £966 and the cheapest spot to find such an apartment was in the borough of Bexley.
According to Rightmove, Motherwell had the lowest monthly rent in Scotland, with an average of £714.32 pcm. This was followed by Dumfries and Galloway, which had a monthly cost of £775, and Kilmarnock and Ayr, both of which had a monthly rent of £807.40.
The settlement of Garreglwyd in Benllech on the island of Anglesey in Wales was where you’d find the most affordable housing options to rent. According to The Daily Post, the asking rent for an unfurnished one-bedroom apartment in Garreglwyd was £395 each calendar month.
Because of rising interest rates and a decrease in the number of people interested in buying property in the United Kingdom, rental prices in that country have grown by more than 4% in the previous year and by as much as 16.7% since January of 2015.
In 2022, rents went up across the board in the United Kingdom, especially in the capital city of London. In the year leading up to December 2022, the cost of privately rented housing had a year-over-year rise of 4.1% in England, 3.5% in Wales, and 4.4% in Scotland.
The greatest increase, 9.6%, was seen in Northern Ireland.
The annual rise in rents was greatest in the East Midlands of England, where they went up by 5% in the 12 months leading up to December 2022. On the other end of the spectrum, the North East and the South East witnessed the lowest increase, which was 3.8%.
The cost of renting a property in London increased by 4%. Since November of 2015, this was the month in which London had the most yearly percentage change.
According to the findings of the UK Residential Market Survey conducted by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the demand for tenants in the UK is on the rise, whereas the flow of fresh supply becoming available on the rental market is continuing to decrease. This trend is expected to continue.
According to data presented in a separate report by the ONS, annual increases in house prices slowed to 10.3% in November from a pace of 12.4% in October 2022.
The rise in interest rates, which made it more difficult for many people to qualify for mortgages, was the primary factor in the slowdown of the real estate market.
According to a survey published by the BBC, the average price of a home in the United Kingdom in November 2022 was £295,000, which was an increase of £28,000 from the previous year.
“Home prices have increased considerably more swiftly than salaries, causing an affordability pinch,” Myron Jobson, senior personal finance expert at Interactive Investor, said in an interview with the BBC. “Mortgage rates have soared to levels not seen since the financial catastrophe.”
