Average rents outside London pass £1,400 as affordability pressures persist

What happened

Average rents outside London have crossed £1,400 a month for the first time, according to Rightmove’s third-quarter figures reported on 15 October 2026. The average advertised rent reached £1,418, a record in its data. For people looking for another home, that means slower annual rent growth has not translated into lower asking prices.

Outside the capital, advertised rents increased by 1.5% compared with the previous quarter and by 2.4% compared with a year earlier, Rightmove said. Those figures measure different periods: the quarterly change captures the latest movement, while the annual figure compares rents with the same quarter in 2025. Both show that asking rents continued to rise.

London also recorded a new high, with the average advertised rent reaching £2,825 a month, according to Rightmove. Annual growth in the capital accelerated to 3.2%, faster than the rate outside London. The London figure is a separate market average, rather than an amount tenants should expect to pay for every type of home.

The supply picture outside London was relatively balanced in terms of annual changes, though both measures declined. Rightmove reported 2% fewer homes available to rent than a year earlier, alongside a 2% fall in renter demand. Matching percentage changes do not establish whether there are enough suitable properties for everyone looking.

In London, Rightmove reported a more pronounced mismatch: available rental homes fell 9% annually, while renter demand increased 6%. New rental listings were also down 7%, indicating fewer properties coming onto the market. Availability and new listings are distinct measures, covering the homes currently on offer and the flow of homes being advertised.

The background

Rightmove’s figures describe advertised rents, also known as asking rents, rather than a measure of every tenant’s current payment. They are therefore particularly relevant to people searching for a new tenancy. The averages should not be read as an automatic increase for existing renters, whose payments depend on their own tenancy and any applicable rent-change process.

Despite the records, Rightmove said annual rental growth remained well below the roughly 10% rates seen between 2021 and 2023. This is the distinction between the level of rents and the speed at which they change. A slower increase can still leave someone moving home facing a higher monthly bill than a year earlier.

Rightmove said rents were generally increasing faster in lower-priced parts of Britain. That means a lower starting rent does not necessarily indicate a market where costs are rising slowly. Its broad finding also underlines why the average outside London cannot describe the experience of every town, property type or household.

The portal found little evidence of a substantial acceleration in landlords selling rental homes. Around 13% of properties advertised for sale had previously been advertised to rent, a share that Rightmove said had changed little during 2026. It was only slightly above the 12% recorded in 2025, rather than evidence of a sudden jump.

That sales measure records a property’s advertising history; it does not count completed sales or establish who will buy the home. It also addresses a different question from the returns available to landlords. Property Pulse UK’s separate coverage of rental yields and landlord buying patterns examines that investment side of the market.

Read moreBuyer demand rose 5% in early September, but remained below last year

What people are saying

Rightmove mortgage expert Matt Smith identified refinancing existing properties as a major challenge for landlords. He said some were still reaching the end of much cheaper fixed-rate mortgage deals arranged when borrowing costs were lower. For those borrowers, the relevant comparison is with their expiring deal, not simply with a recent movement in market rates.

Rightmove put the average two-year fixed buy-to-let mortgage rate at 5.34%, compared with 4.16% before the start of the war in Iran. That is a difference of 1.18 percentage points between the two quoted averages. The benchmark describes borrowing costs across deals, rather than the rate every landlord will be offered.

Smith said new buy-to-let investment had been relatively subdued for some time. He also warned that moving onto a higher mortgage rate could materially affect monthly costs and rental returns. His comments point to a distinction between rising rental income and the amount a landlord retains after financing and other expenses.

Kim Lidbury, president of Association of Residential Letting Agents Propertymark, said the market needed to be assessed beyond the pace of rent increases. Her concern was that record advertised rents and the availability of suitable homes continued to create difficulties for tenants. She argued that slower growth alone would not resolve rental affordability problems.

Lidbury also identified financing costs, taxation and regulation as factors in landlords’ decisions to invest, retain properties or sell. Her stated priority was sufficient good-quality rental housing at different price points, in a sector that works for landlords and tenants. The separate consultation on Awaab’s Law repair deadlines for private rentals concerns the standards side of that debate, rather than the asking-rent figures themselves.

What happens next

For prospective tenants, Rightmove’s findings make local comparisons more useful than relying on the headline average alone. An advertised rent is the starting point for assessing a particular home, alongside its size, condition and location. The £1,418 figure provides market context outside London, but it is not a price guide for an individual property.

For existing renters, the reported annual increases should not be treated as a forecast of their next rent review. Rightmove is tracking advertised homes, not announcing changes to individual tenancy payments. Anyone assessing a proposed increase needs to distinguish the market data from the terms and process applying to their own tenancy.

For landlords approaching the end of a fixed mortgage deal, Smith’s comments put the refinancing date and replacement borrowing cost at the centre of the calculation. A higher advertised market rent does not show whether a particular property will cover a higher mortgage payment. That depends on its actual income, borrowing and other costs.

Property condition and building obligations are another consideration, separate from mortgage pricing. Property Pulse UK’s coverage of the cladding remediation bill and proposed duties for building owners explains one such policy development. The Rightmove figures do not establish that any particular regulatory proposal caused the recorded changes in rents or rental availability.

London’s next supply and demand readings will provide a comparison with the current combination of fewer available homes and more prospective renters. Outside London, the corresponding measures are both lower than a year ago, according to Rightmove. Future figures on former rental homes advertised for sale will also show whether the broadly stable 13% share changes.

Why this matters

For renters planning a move, Rightmove’s figures show that slower rent growth still leaves advertised costs at record levels. London also has fewer available homes and higher demand than a year ago. For landlords, the portal’s mortgage figures highlight refinancing pressures that can offset higher rental income. The practical distinction is between market averages and individual circumstances: neither an asking-rent record nor an average mortgage rate establishes what a particular tenancy or property will cost.