Like every month, Rentila offers you an overview of the main real estate news of interest to landlords and tenants. This month, we focus on: Why the UK’s housing crisis will deepen as landlords flee; Housing market returns to growth; Jump in average fixed mortgage rates recorded in December; Rents rise by 8.7% – but one area sees a 30% increase; Survey finds Budget a big disappointment for landlords… Happy reading and… renting!
Three UK cities have been crowned the best in the world for 2025
It comes as no surprise that London not only makes the list but tops it. The UK capital has clinched the top spot not two, not three, but 10 years in a row. London wipes the floor with its competitors, beating runners up New York and Paris with a staggering seven wins across 28 categories.
Continue reading
Why the UK’s housing crisis will deepen as landlords flee
They say there is a housing crisis – and with good reason. Net migration to the UK reached an astonishing 906,000 in the year up to June 2023, far surpassing previous estimates.
Continue reading
Housing market returns to growth
House prices rose for the fifth consecutive month, increasing by 1.3 per cent in November, data from Halifax has revealed.
The data, Halifax’s House Price Index for the month of November 2024, found the average house price reached £298,083, an increase of 1.3 per cent on a monthly basis.
Continue reading
Revealed: The UK city with the most challenging rental market
According to tenant app Tlyfe, only 1.2% of rental properties in Bradford are currently listed to rent, with just 500 out of 42,700 private rental dwellings in the West Yorkshire city available.
Continue reading
London house prices reach ‘unaffordable’ levels – even for top earners
Even the richest people in London are being priced out of the property market as house prices reach record levels, the Office for National Statistics has found.
“In London, the average home was not affordable for any household income decile,” the statistics watchdog said in its latest Housing Purchase Affordability index, using 2023 data.
Continue reading
Property market 2025: will it be a buyers’ market?
Homebuyers and sellers faced plenty of challenges during 2024, with high mortgage rates dampening demand at the start of the year, but slowing inflation and interest rate cuts in recent months have brought confidence back to the market.
Continue reading
Lenders adjust rates in response to EPC C targets and market changes
A lender has announced rate cuts on their products, with Fleet Mortgages relaunching five-year fixed-rate options for landlords buying or remortgaging properties with an EPC rating of A-C.
Continue reading
Barclays confirms big new mortgage rule and is ‘first lender to do so’
Barclays has confirmed a new mortgage rule which is due to take effect THIS WEEK. Barclays has reduced rates by as much as 0.20 percentage points and said the move followed a “volatile” period in the swap rate market.
Continue reading
Bank of England issues mortgage rate warning to 4.4 million homes and sounds Trump trade alarm
Around half the UK’s mortgage holders face paying higher rates over the next three years, the Bank of England has warned, while sounding alarm over the potential impact of Donald Trump’s looming return to the White House.
Continue reading
Jump in average fixed mortgage rates recorded in December
The average five-year fixed-rate mortgage rate on the market recorded the biggest month-on-month jump seen since August 2023 between November and December this year, according to a financial information website.
Continue reading
Bank of England set to stay in central bank slow lane and keep rates on hold
The BoE remains on alert about price pressures in Britain’s jobs market that have subsided more clearly elsewhere.
The new government’s tax and spending plans have only added to the uncertain outlook for inflation.
Continue reading
Tenants rights to keep pets to be strengthened in new measures to improve renting
The new legislation will introduce a range of measures aimed at improve renting, including strengthening tenants’ rights to keep a pet. Measures in bill will allow a renter to make a request to keep an animal in their home and for that to not be unreasonably refused by their landlord.
Continue reading
Sadiq Khan to push government for London rent controls as part of devolution deal
Seated in the same chamber at City Hall, Garbett recounted how one renter on her Commission saw her rent jump £400 a month in her home of 20 years, and how she expected to be forced out in January at the next rent increase. She emphasised how others described being driven out of their support network, harming their mental health and rupturing community ties.
Continue reading
Rent in Salford rises 10% in past year
Provisional figures from the Office for National Statistics show the average private rent in Salford reached £1,069 per month in the year to October – up 10% from £969 a year prior.
It was also up 40% from an estimated £762 a month five years ago.
Continue reading
Rents rise by 8.7% – but one area sees a 30% increase
Rents across Britain have surged over the past year by 8.7%, with some areas experiencing staggering increases – including one area that saw a jaw-dropping 30.1% rent hike.
Continue reading
Rental price growth slows sharply as agents told to prepare ‘for a seismic 2025’
England’s rental market continued to settle in November, with average rents down 3% since October, and the pace of year-on-year increases falling to a new annual low.
According to the Goodlord Rental Index, the average monthly price for a rental property in England dropped to £1,205 in November…
Continue reading
Rent prices could drop if 1% of spare rooms were rented out
f just 1% of the UK’s 26 million spare rooms were let out, rent prices would drop back to 2017 levels, according to new research.
A flat-sharing website says people taking in lodgers could be the solution to balancing supply and demand in the rental market.
Continue reading
Bristolians paying UK’s highest price difference for renting furnished two-bedroom properties
A new report has found that people renting a two-bedroom apartment in Bristol are paying on average £573 more a month on furnished apartments when compared to unfurnished apartments. The report also found that the 33 per cent increase in rent is the second highest rent percentage increase in the country.
Continue reading
Older tenant numbers surge as younger renters decline
Tenants on the brink of retirement are the fastest-growing group of private renters in England, research reveals.
According to an analysis, the number of households headed by individuals aged 55 to 64 rocketed by 66% between 2014 and 2024, reaching 492,000.
Continue reading
Private landlords face prosecution if properties don’t comply with new smoke, heat and carbon monoxide alarm rules
For the purposes of the Regulations, a landlord has ultimate responsibility to ensure the property is compliant, even when someone, such as an agent, has been engaged to act on their behalf.
If private landlords don’t comply with the new regulations, they could face prosecution.
Continue reading
Why the Buy-to-Let Dream is Dead: How the Government Killed the UK’s Best Investment
There was a time when buy-to-let was seen as one of the safest and most profitable investments in the UK. Landlords could buy a property, rent it out, cover their mortgage, and watch their investment grow. For many, it was a sure-fire way to build wealth.
Continue reading
Survey finds Budget a big disappointment for landlords
Seventy two percent of landlords told buy-to-let lender Landbay that they were disappointed by the Budget. Landlords were particularly concerned by increased stamp duty on second homes and investment properties.
Continue reading
£6bn of UK property bought with suspicious overseas funds
Since 2016, nearly £6bn in suspicious funds funnelled through companies registered in the British Overseas Territories have been used to purchase UK properties, according to new research.
Continue reading
The Death of the Family Landlord: Why Small-Time Landlords Are Disappearing
For decades, small, family-run landlords were the backbone of the UK’s rental market.
These landlords—whether they owned one property or a handful—played a vital role in providing affordable, well-maintained homes to millions of tenants.
Continue reading
Scottish Budget boosts housing investment but hikes tax on landlords
The Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS), introduced in April 2016, applies to transactions involving the purchase of an additional residential dwelling over £40,000, including buy-to-let investments and second homes.
Continue reading
Protect the environment. Reduce paper consumption and help save the trees as well as save money at the same time. 
