In October, the average rent on a newly let home in Great Britain rose to £1,204pm, passing the £1,200 mark for the first time, according to the October 2022 Hamptons Monthly Lettings Index. This now costs the average tenant an extra £960 per year in rent compared to last year.  

Average rents passed the £1,100 mark back in September 2021, just 14 months ago. Meanwhile rents first crossed the £1,000 milestone back in June 2019, before dipping during Covid and then re-passing that point again in August 2020, 14 months later.

So far this year, average rents in five regions have moved into a new £100 price bracket. Greater London was the latest, with rents passing £2,100pm for the first time in October 2022. This was driven by rents in Inner London reaching a new record high of £2,863pm in October, £1pm more than when rents in London’s priciest postcodes previously peaked (in October 2019). This now means that rents in every area of the country are above where they were at the beginning of Covid.

Since the eve of Covid (Jan-2020) rents have risen 19% across Great Britain, equating to an additional £2,351 a year in rent. We’ve seen more rental growth since the beginning of Covid than we did in at least eight years prior. While nationally rents recovered to their January 2020 levels within eight months, in Inner London it took 30 months to bounce back.

In October, the average Inner London home cost 9% more to rent than it did in January 2020. Meanwhile the South West has seen the strongest growth since then, with rents up 32% or £265 per month.