Rents drop in five regions - Goodlord Rental Index

Monthly rents dropped in five of the eight regions monitored by the Goodlord Rental Index in July. The biggest drop was recorded in the West Midlands, where the average monthly rent of £711 was 1.11% less than in the previous month.

The monthly average rent for the whole of the UK stood at £906 in July. The highest monthly average rent was in London, at £1,608, which also continues to be the least affordable region for renters in the UK, with an affordability ratio of 3.3. Goodlord defines affordability as a tenant’s guaranteed yearly income divided by their yearly rent share, with 2.5 considered the minimum affordable ratio.

The North East, West Midlands and Wales were the most affordable regions in July, each with an average affordability ratio of 3.9.

Meanwhile, the South West continues to have the lowest average void periods in the UK, where it took just nine days to fill a property in July. It took almost three times as long to fill a vacant property in the East Midlands in July, where the average void period was 25 days.