Average UK private rents increased by 3.8% in the 12 months to September 2026, while annual house price growth slowed for a fourth consecutive month, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The average monthly rent reached £1,406, £52 higher than a year earlier. England recorded a 4.0% increase to £1,466, Wales 4.1% to £848 and Scotland 0.7% to £1,011.

In England, the North West recorded the fastest rental growth at 5.7%, while London and the South East were lowest at 3.5%.

Rental values continued to vary sharply by location, ranging from £3,739 per month in Kensington and Chelsea to £556 in Dumfries and Galloway. Outside London, Oxford had the highest average rent at £1,957.

House price growth moved in the opposite direction, slowing from 1.2% in July to 0.9% in August 2026, with the average UK home valued at £273,000.

England recorded growth of just 0.4% to £294,000, compared with 3.1% in Wales and 2.9% in Scotland.

London was the weakest English region, with prices falling 2.2%. The ONS said declining flat values “drove the annual overall decrease in London of 2.2%”.

Flats account for around half of property transactions in London compared with approximately one-fifth across Great Britain.

The North East recorded England's strongest house price growth at 3.2%, although this had slowed from 4.7% a month earlier.