London rents break records again — can you guess how much a home in the capital costs today?

Rental price inflation is slowing but it’s still more expensive than ever to rent in the capital

Asking prices for rents have gone up more than five per cent in a year, according to Rightmove

Matt Writtle

India Block30 April 2024

Average advertised rents in London have broken the previous record — by two pounds.

It now costs £2,633 a month on average to rent a home in the capital, according to the latest data from Rightmove.

These Q1 2024 figures are up from £2,631 in Q4 of 2023.

Advertised rents are up 5.3 per cent compared to this time last year across London.

Rent has grown fastest in outer London boroughs, up 7.8 per cent annually, with the rental home advertised at £2,287. Inner London boroughs saw a smaller annual change of 2.8 per cent, with average asking rents of £3,106.

“The rental market is no longer at peak boiling point but it remains at a very hot simmer,” said Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s Director of Property Science.

Rents outside of London are being advertised at rates that are 8.5 per cent higher than this time last year, with the average rental home advertised at £1,291 a month.

However, with renters across the UK hitting the absolute limit of what they can afford, Rightmove found 22 per cent of rental properties are reducing asking rents to try and attract tenants.

Larger homes with four or five bedrooms are the most likely to have asking rents reduced.

Last month Chestertons reported that landlords were having to drop their asking rents by up to 10 per cent in some areas of London in a bid to attract tenants.

Rightmove said that part of the problem was the lack of homes available to rent compared to the number of tenants looking for a place to live.

“The balance between supply and demand remains so far from pre-pandemic levels,” said Bannister.

“The fact that even with some improvements to the level of supply, we are still nearly 50,000 properties behind the pre-pandemic market, is a stark reminder that the industry needs more good quality rental homes.” Simon Thompson, Group Lettings Director at estate agents Miles & Barr, warned that price reductions might not last for much longer.

“There has been an increased number of price reductions, but this is mainly happening at the top end of the market, with smaller homes still in high-demand,” he said.

“It appears stock will get tighter as we move into the summer months and as such the number of reductions will likely decrease.”

Tenants looking to stay in their current rental property are also facing steep rent increases. Private rents in London are up 11.2 per cent since March 2023, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics last week.