The first month of 2026 brought signs that falls in rental growth are beginning to moderate.
Lettings agency Hamptons, part of Connells, says that across Britain, the average rent on a newly let home declined by 0.2% in the year to January 2026, bringing the average to £1,366 pcm.
Meanwhile, over the same period, the average tenant renewing a contract saw their rent rise by 2.8% to £1,305 pcm.
The slowdown has been driven by the South of England.
Inner London rents have been falling for 13 consecutive months, and Outer London for the past eight months.
Meanwhile, the South East, the region most economically tied to the capital, has now seen four months of annual declines.
Together, these regions account for around one-third of Britain’s rental homes.
Rental growth on newly let homes has also run below 1% for the past four months in both the East of England (0.8% Year on Year) and the South West (0.5% YoY).
Further North, the pace of growth has also been easing.
In Scotland, newly agreed rents fell annually (-0.2%) for the first time since July 2020, signalling the unwinding of steep rises linked to rent controls enforced by the Scottish government between 2022 and April 2025.
In 2022 and 2023, rents in Scotland increased by an average of 10% per year.
In Yorkshire and The Humber, rents on newly let homes have been falling for six months, down 1.4% in January to £915 pcm.
London was the only region where renewing tenants saw their rent decline, with renewed rents down 1.5% year-on-year to £2,222 pcm.
However, excluding London, renewed rents across Great Britain rose 5.2% in January to £1,070 pcm.
| Region | New lets | Renewals | ||
| Average monthly rent | YoY % | Average monthly rent | YoY % | |
| Greater London | £2,283 | -1.3% | £2,222 | -1.5% |
| Inner London | £2,729 | -1.7% | £2,711 | -2.2% |
| Outer London | £1,955 | -0.9% | £1,863 | -0.7% |
| South | £1,339 | -0.4% | £1,286 | 5.0% |
| East of England | £1,257 | 0.8% | £1,251 | 4.6% |
| South East | £1,445 | -1.6% | £1,384 | 5.5% |
| South West | £1,260 | 0.5% | £1,172 | 4.7% |
| Midlands | £1,041 | 1.5% | £973 | 5.0% |
| East Midlands | £986 | 0.4% | £932 | 5.1% |
| West Midlands | £1,089 | 2.4% | £1,009 | 5.0% |
| North | £959 | 1.3% | £889 | 5.9% |
| North East | £839 | 1.7% | £778 | 5.7% |
| North West | £1,031 | 3.0% | £921 | 7.2% |
| Yorkshire & The Humber | £915 | -1.4% | £898 | 4.4% |
| Wales | £879 | 0.6% | £826 | 3.3% |
| Scotland | £1,018 | -0.2% | £911 | 5.6% |
| Great Britain | £1,366 | -0.2% | £1,305 | 2.8% |
| Great Britain (Exc London) | £1,132 | 0.4% | £1,070 | 5.2% |
