Regional patterns show stronger growth in lower-cost markets and weaker growth where rents are already high. At country and region level, rents are rising fastest in the North East, up 4.5%, followed by the North West, up 3.2%. London is seeing the slowest increase at 1.6%, with the West Midlands and Scotland both recording growth of 1.7%.
Conditions also vary at local market level. Some areas are now registering small falls in achieved rents for new lets. In the Birmingham postal area, average rents are 1.5% lower than a year ago, while in Dundee they are down by 1%. By contrast, the strongest growth is in Carlisle, where rents for new lets are up 8.1%, followed by Chester at 7.4% and Motherwell at 7%. Zoopla attributes these differences to how far rents have moved relative to local incomes, as well as to localised shifts in demand and supply.
“The rental market has made a big stride back towards normality over 2025 after a prolonged period of sky-high demand and a lack of homes for rent.” said Richard Donnell (pictured right), executive director at Zoopla. “This is welcome relief for renters who can expect to see a greater choice of homes, slower rent increases and a less competitive market.
“However, the high costs of buying a home remain a barrier to many renters, which will support demand for renting over 2026. While there are signs that landlords are buying homes again, we do not expect a big increase in supply, meaning rents are set to increase by 2.5% over 2026.”
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