Tue, 22 Jul 2025

Tue, 22 Jul 2025 Rents rise £221 a month in three years, analysis suggests

The monthly cost of renting rose just as fast as mortgage increases over the last three years, figures show.

* The cost of renting a home has increased by £221 in three years, according to property portal Zoopla.
* Analysis by Zoopla shows that rents for new tenancies are 21% higher than they were three years ago, with an average monthly rent of £1,283 this spring.
* Some renters are being forced to turn down jobs or move due to high rents, including Neysa Killeen who had to decline a teaching job in Dublin because the wage wouldn't cover her rent.
* Parents are increasingly helping their children with living costs, including one mum who said she and her husband were supporting their 26-year-old son because he couldn't afford his rent on his own salary.
* Rent increases have slowed in some areas, particularly cities, but continue to rise sharply in more affordable areas near large cities.
* Homeowners are facing similar mortgage repayment increases of £218 over the same three-year period, but property owners tend to have bigger homes and may be reducing their debt with each payment.
* The government has announced a permanent extension to the mortgage guarantee scheme and plans for simpler rules around mortgages, as well as proposals to allow people to show evidence of rent payments in lenders' affordability checks.
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