RENT prices in Northern Ireland have risen at more than twice the UK rate over the past year according to new report.
The latest HomeLet Rental Index has revealed that the average rent in the north in March was £629, a 2.4 per cent jump on the same time last year. This is compared to a 0.9 per cent rise recorded in the UK, with the average rent now £912. Taking London out of the equation and that figure comes down to £759, an increase of 0.1 per cent.
Average rents in London were £1,569 last month, up 1.5 per cent, while the highest year-on-year increase of 5.6 per cent was recorded in Scotland.
Over the month the rental price fell marginally from £631 to £629, compared to a 0.7 per cent increase across the UK.
Whilst March’s average increase reflects higher rents recorded in 10 of the 12 areas of the country HomeLet monitors, the pace of rental price inflation has slowed from 1.2 per cent in February.
Chief executive of HomeLet, Martin Totty said rental price growth has been steady over the past year.
“Rental price inflation was much more stable over the whole of 2017 compared to 2016, when rents rose at an annual rate of more than 4 per cent in the first half of the year, before dropping back in the second half. So far, we are seeing this more stable market continue to prevail in 2018."
“This data shows that a year into the three year phasing-in of changes to buy-to-let landlord taxation, rental inflation so far has remained steady rather than increasing as some commentators had predicted," he added.
