The average private rent price in the United Kingdom has fallen by 0.2% in July 2025, the first year-on-year decline since August 2020.
This is according to the latest data from estate agency Hamptons, which noted that while average rent declined, it still remains at £1,373 per month, which is 34% above where it was five years ago.
Greater London saw the biggest drop in average rent, with prices falling for the seventh month in a row, this time by 3.0% year-on-year. Rents continue to rise in the East Midlands, West Midlands, and South West.
Wales, the North East, and Yorkshire & the Humber also recorded annual falls.
July also saw rents on renewed tenancies rise by 4.5% year-on-year, with every region seeing increases and the gap between new and renewal rents narrowing to just £83.
Hamptons said this narrowing gap results from landlords aiming to keep pace with inflation and limit the impact of future regulatory risk. It is also a sign that while demand may be softening, the underlying cost pressures haven’t gone away, the agency said.
Foreign landlords drive buy-to-let growth
The growth in buy-to-let companies remains strong, with an increasing number of foreign landlords getting in on the game.
Hamptons found that as of July 2025, the number of buy-to-let companies set up across the UK in 2025 is running 8% ahead of last year’s record levels. At the current rate, around 67,000 new companies will be set up by the end of 2025.
Around 13,500 of those will be owned at least in part by non-UK nationals.
In the years following Brexit, the nationality of foreign landlords has shifted according to the UK’s immigration make-up.
Indian nationals lead the charge, founding 684 new buy-to-let companies in the UK in the first half of the year, with more registered in Hillingdon than in any other Local Authority.
Nigerian investors follow closely with 647 new incorporations, while Polish and Irish nationals also feature highly, Hamptons said.
EU nationals now account for 49% of non-UK shareholders, which has fallen from 65% in 2016. The number of South Asian and African investors is filling the gap as growth shifts to more affordable markets outside of London.
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