Private Rents Rise Faster Than Inflation July 2025

Average private rents are still rising faster than inflation, increasing 5.9 per cent, to £1,343 a month, in the year to July 2025 - meaning tenants must dig £75 deeper into their pockets to rent a home.

The annual growth rate is down from 6.7 per cent in the 12 months to June 2025 and represents the seventh month in a row of slowing annual rent inflation, says the latest rent report from the Office for National Statistics.

The average rent in England was £1,398 a month in July, up 6.0 per cent (£79) from a year earlier. The rise was lower than the 6.7 per cent posted for the 12 months to June and is the eighth consecutive month of slowing annual rent inflation.

Private rent inflation was highest in the North East (8.9 per cent) and lowest in Yorkshire and The Humber (3.5 per cent), in the 12 months to July.

In Wales, the average rent was £807 a month, up £59 or 7.9 per cent compared with a year ago. The annual rise was lower than the 8.2 per cent seen in the 12 months to June and below the record annual rise of 9.9 per cent in November 2023.

Private rent inflation by region in England, July 2025

Source: Office for National Statistics

Average rents where you are

London's annual inflation was 6.3 per cent in the 12 months to July, down from 7.3 per cent in the 12 months to June. This was the eighth consecutive month of slowing annual inflation.

UK average rents were highest in London (£2,250) and lowest in the North East (£736).

Tenants in Kensington and Chelsea, London (£3,601) paid the most rent in the country, while those in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland (£522), paid the least. Excluding London, the local area with the highest average rent of £1,875 a month was Oxford.

Newport, Wales, has seen private rents stabilise following rapid price rises in winter 2024, which led to record-high annual growth of 21.4 per cent in the 12 months to January.

Rents by property type

The average private rents in July were highest for detached homes(£1,531) and lowest for flats and maisonettes (£1,318).

Average UK private rent was highest for properties with four or more bedrooms (£2,003) and lowest for properties with one bedroom (£1,091).

Most unaffordable place to live

Data from flatshare site SpareRoom has compared the average cost of renting a room and the amount people can afford to spend on rent, to show where the biggest affordability gaps are in the country.

Twickenham, West London, is the most unaffordable area. The average rent outstrips the average budget by £152 per month, meaning renters need to find an additional £1,827 a year from already stretched budgets to live there.