Rents across the U.K. rose in January for the first time in almost two years, including in London, which has remained in negative territory for months, according to a report Wednesday by London-based Landbay, a buy-to-let mortgage lender.
After 19 months of poor performance, rents in the capital finally stopped exerting such downward pressure on the national average and inched 0.03% higher last month, allowing average U.K. rents to rise 0.07% from December to a record high of £1,198 (US$1,661), the report said.
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The number is a 0.66% increase on this time last year and lays the foundation for what is expected to be a year of climbing rents in the U.K.
"With all the tax and regulatory changes landlords have shouldered over the past couple of years, an uplift in rents has been on the cards for a while, and is likely to continue into 2018," said John Goodall, CEO and founder of Landbay, in the report.
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The East Midlands logged the largest growth (0.18%) followed by the East of England (0.13%) and the West Midlands (0.11%). London shared its growth of 0.03% with the North East as both tied for smallest gains.
While every region logged rising rents in January, the speed of rental growth on a country level was inconsistent. Wales (0.10%) had the most rental growth compared to December, followed by Scotland (0.08%) and England (0.07%), while Northern Ireland (0.01%) remained flat, according to the report.