The Data Observatory
The NRLA Data Observatory is a collection of official and other well-established data sources which when combined, provide a narrative of the Private Rented Sector (PRS). The NRLA tracks approximately 45 key data sets which are updated monthly, quarterly and annually. A selection of these appear in these pages.
Our Deep Insight blog provides a regular extension of the analysis which appears here, as well as those datasets which are not published in the Data Observatory section of this website.
The blog pages also features blog posts from other organisations and academics to provide insight on the PRS. Here you can also find more in-depth summaries of our regular reports and surveys.
Regional PRS data
Table 1: Annual rental price growth, May & June 2024
This chart shows rental changes using the new PIPR index. The chart shows the annual rate of private sector rental prices across the English regions as well as in Wales and England for the last two months.
In June the UK annual rental price growth (as measured by PIPR) stood at 8.6% - the same level as in England and slightly higher than that in Wales (8.2%). In May the CPI was 2.0%pa and the CPI-H stood at 2.8%pa.
In Wales, June represents another month in which annual rental growth is below the November 2023 highs of 9.8%pa. It is the third consecutive month in which annual rental growth has been below 9.0%.
Across England, annual rental growth in three regions (the North West, East of England and the South East*) reached record highs for those regions.
In London, although annual rental growth was in single digits (9.7%pa) for the first time since January it remains the English region with the highest annual rental growth. This has been the case since December 2023.
Across the first six months of 2024, the rental index has grown 4.54% in London, closely followed by the North West (4.37%). The only regions in which rental growth over the first six months has not exceeded 3% has been the North East (2.43%) and the South West (2.89%).
(*The South East region also recorded this rental price growth rate in Jan & Feb 2024)
Note on the data
The Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR) measures private rent inflation based on data from over 500,000 rent prices across the UK. The PIPR is based on achieved rents for both new and existing tenancies.
One advantage of the new index is that average rents across different property sizes can be tracked at a local authority level. An easy to use chart tool has been launched by the ONS. The tool can be found by clicking on this link.
Note that some of the data in this section is subject to updates and revision by UK statistical agencies. The NRLA may, or may not, update this secton as data is revised
Table 2: Weekly rents (Median) across the regions
Data collection for this survey took place across a twelve-month research period. This rent information is therefore not a snapshot at a moment in time, but instead reflects rent levels across the entire research period.
The FRS is based on over 22,000 interviews.
The latest FRS shows:
- A pattern of falling rents across England as one moves from the southern to the northern regions.
- Median weekly rent levels in London being way above rent levels in other regions/Devolved Authorities.
Though not shown, analysis of the change between this version of the FRS and the previous shows:
- Double digit median rental growth in the North East (10.6% increase); Yorkshire & the Humber (11.4%); East Midlands (13.6%) and the South West (11.6%).
- England was the only nation/DA in which rent increases exceeded a 10% increase (12.2%) on the previous year.
- In Wales the increase was 8.8%, whilst in Scotland the FRS recorded a reduction in median rents of 0.9%.