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Zoopla UK Rental Market Report – September 2023

Research and Insight September 2023
Top insights
Executive summary
Rents for new lets are up 10.5% over the year (12.2% a year ago)
Rental inflation has been in double digits for 18 months
Average renter has seen costs rise £2,800 over last 3 years
Scotland recording fastest growth in rents at 12.7% where rent controls are forcing landlords to maximise rents for new lets
The UK rented sector remains stuck in a period of low supply and high demand. Affordability is the key influence on rental growth
Rents continue to outpace earnings and rental affordability is now the worst for over a decade
Rents for new lets expected increase by 9% in 2023 then slow to 5-6% in 2024
Currently
10.5 %

Annual rental inflation for new lets, UK

Scottish rental growth
12.7 %

Highest in the UK

Rent as a percentage of earnings
28.4%

Highest in a decade

Currently

Rental growth in the near term is set to be shaped more by the affordability of renting, and how renters adapt to higher rents, than major shifts in supply and/or demand.

Modest improvement in supply/demand mismatch over last year
Source: Zoopla Research
% change, 4 weeks to 3 September 2023 compared to the same period between 2018 and 2022.