Rents increased for the fourth consecutive month during April, according to the latest Goodlord Rental Index.
Average rent per property inched up across the month as the market continues to grow. And voids held steady at 21 days, the same length of void period recorded in March, as demand remains consistent ahead of the peak summer months.
Goodlord processes tens of thousands of tenancy applications each month on behalf of over 3,500 lettings brands across the UK. The Rental Index is based on contracted tenancy prices, rather than advertised prices.
In April 2025, the average rent per property in England was £1,216. This is 4.2% higher than April 2024’s figure of £1,166. This equates to a year-on-year increase of £50 per month (or £600 per year) for tenants. However, April’s year-on-year rise of 4.2% is slightly lower than March’s figure of 4.6%.
At a regional level, the North West, South East and West Midlands all recorded year-on-year rent rises of over 5%. At the other end of the scale, the East Midlands recorded an annual rise of less than 1%.
In better news for tenants, year-on-year salary increases continue to outstrip the rising cost of rent. The average salary of a renter signing a new tenancy agreement in April 2025 was £38,629 – 4.94% higher than April 2024’s average of £36,810.
From a month-on-month perspective, rents rose for the fourth month in a row during April. Average rent per property rose by a modest 0.2% – increasing from £1,213 in March to £1,216 in April.
Properties in the East Midlands, North East, North West and the South West all saw a small uptick in average costs. The largest shift was in the North East, where prices jumped by over 2%.
However, Greater London, the South East, and the West Midlands all saw marginal reductions in the average cost of rent. London saw the biggest decrease, with prices down 1% in the capital during April.
Voids – the length of time a property remains vacant between lettings – remain unchanged during April at 21 days, indicating consistent demand across the market.
However, the current void length of 21 days is slightly higher year-on-year. In April 2024, voids sat at 19 days.
Greater London is recording the shortest voids currently, with properties changing hands in just 16 days on average. The longest voids are seen in the East Midlands, at the significantly higher figure of 28 days.
William Reeve, CEO of Goodlord, commented: “It’s been another month of steadily increasing rents, at a time of the year when we often see more ups and downs in terms of rental averages. This continues to underscore the prediction that this summer will bring a rental spike across the country, although rising salaries will be offsetting this impact for tenants to some degree. And whilst the regional picture is nuanced when it comes to voids, the national averages highlight steady demand from tenants for new properties as we hurtle towards the busiest months on the lettings calendar.”
Separate data from Hello Neighbour supports Goodlord’s growth findings as far as the capital is concerned.
According to Hello Neighbour, London rents in April 2025 are up 10% compared to the same month last year, and 9% higher than in April 2023.
Richard Jenkins, CEO and co-founder, Hello Neighbour, said: “Although we’ve seen a month-on-month decline of 1.8%, prices are still up 4% compared to the previous three-month period. 71% of Landlords are still pricing within 10% of the market rate.
“Tenant demand is not increasing at the pace typically seen in previous years as we move into spring. There were 40 requests to view a property in April 2025 — 35% lower than in April 2024 and 40% lower than in April 2023. This means that well-researched rental pricing is becoming increasingly important to avoid lengthy void periods
“The gap in demand between outer and inner London over the past three months remains small, with an average of 94 viewing requests per property in outer London, compared to 83 in inner London.”
For the third consecutive month, Hammersmith and Fulham recorded the highest number of viewing requests over the past three months, averaging 493 requests per property, followed by Barking with 250.
Read the orginal article: https://propertyindustryeye.com/uk-rental-prices-continue-upward-trend/
