A new index released by PropTech company Goodlord measured the rents, voids and tenancy lengths for England and Wales. The figures showed us that renting is still in good form but also demonstrated wide variations between regions.
Using data on tenancies processed on its platform, Goodlord confirmed that tenants in the South of England were spending more on rent, with London tenants spending an average of £1,619 per calendar month. This is also a considerable difference to the 2nd most expensive region, the South East, which was spending an average of £967 on rent. However, both regions had the highest average income in the country with London tenants and those in the South East averaging £36,000 and £25,000 respectively.
On the other end of the spectrum, the North East and West Midlands were spending the least on rent but, in turn, had the lowest annual income, with those in the North East earning an average of £17,000 and those in the West Midlands earning an average of £18,000.
Goodlord also found that the country was typically spending 29% of their income on rent. The West Midlands appeared to be the most cost-effective region as tenants were spending 5% less of their annual income on rent compared to the rest of the sample. As expected, London proved to be the least affordable, with tenants spending an average of 54% of their annual income on rent, a massive 25% more than other regions.
London also saw the shortest void periods, with landlords having to typically wait only 13 days for new tenants to move into their property. Despite the median void period decreasing to 28 days from the previous month, many landlords were still waiting nearly a month to fill their property.
The length of tenancy stayed mostly the same throughout the tenancies that were sampled, with six out of the eight regions sampled having an average tenancy length of nine months. However, London and the South East had considerably longer tenancy periods of 11 months and 14 months respectively.
The North West has recently seen an increase in demand due to major investments in cities like Manchester and Liverpool. This is evident in the figures produced by Goodlord, where tenants in this cohort were generally spending around £752 on their rent. The average void period for landlords in the North West currently stands at 27 days but, as this region continues to see major investments, more jobs will become available and this area will become even more popular with young professionals who are looking to rent.
It should come as no surprise that London and the South of England is seeing more demand from renters. However, with more money being put into the North, the variations between the two will continue to shrink.
If you’re looking to invest in a buy to let property in your area, get in touch with the yieldit Team today!
