The HomeLet Rental Index for June 2020 has revealed that average rent in the UK is now £951, up by 1.1% on the same time last year. However, when London is excluded, the average rent in the UK is now £797, which is up by 2.0% on last year. Average rents in London are now £1,583, down by 1.7% on last year.

Eight of the twelve regions monitored by HomeLet showed an increase in rental values between June 2019 and June 2020, with two of those regions seeing an increase of more than 5%. However, eight of the twelve regions monitored also showed a decrease in rental values between May 2020 and June 2020, with Wales seeing the largest drop of 1.9%.

The region with the largest year-on-year rent value increase was found to be the North West, showing a 6.6% increase between June 2019 and June 2020. In June 2020, average rental value in London (£1,583) was 60% higher than the rest of the UK (£951).

Commenting on the data, Martin Totty, chief executive at HomeLet, said: “June appeared to be an encouraging month for lettings – HomeLet received more applications for tenant reference checks this month than in the same month last year – but it`s perhaps unsurprising to see average rents achieved on tenancies fell slightly compared to May, albeit still ahead over the year.”