Rents rise less than the cost of living

Landlords are consistently accused of charging rip-off rents, and yet the latest figures from LSL Property Services show rents are currently rising slower than the cost of living.

Figures for December put average rents 1.5% up from a year before, with the average rent now at £745 a month.

In comparison, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation ended the year at 2%, whilst the Retail Price Index (RPI) hit 2.7% according to the ONS figures.

Though rents are still comparatively high in relation to average earnings, in my opinion this only reflects the gravity defying property values that the UK has managed to sustain, and not, as some want to make the public believe, the unharnessed greed of landlords. 

Rental yields remain historically low.

Landlord insurance - portfolio rates