Rental growth on newly agreed lets accelerated for a tenth consecutive month in September, according to the Hamptons Monthly Lettings Index.
Rents on new tenancies across Great Britain rose 2.7% over the 12 months, the fastest pace since November 2024, lifting the average rent to £1,433 a month from £1,396 a year earlier.
Unlike the post-Covid pickup in rental growth, which the Midlands and Northern England led, the current acceleration is spread more evenly across the country.
The South East and South West both recorded annual growth above 4.0% for the first time since September 2024. Regional new-let figures for September show the range:
- South East: up 4.6% to an average £1,544 a month
- South West: up 4.1% to £1,353
- Yorkshire and the Humber: up 3.8% to £985
- Greater London: up 1.5% to £2,357
- East Midlands: up 0.3% to £1,017
Where an existing tenant’s rent rose, the average increase held at 5.6%, unchanged from August and up from 5.3% a year earlier. Scotland recorded the largest average increase at 6.9%. Across all tenancies, whether or not the tenant has moved, annual rental growth has continued to slow, halving from 3.9% in the year to September 2025 to 1.9% over the latest 12 months. Hamptons says the gap between rental growth on new lets and across all tenancies is unlikely to persist long term.
Reflecting changes introduced by the Renters’ Rights Act from 1 May 2026, the index measures the actual rents tenants pay today and tracks changes in price where a landlord has issued a Section 13 notice to change the rent.
Separate Hamptons analysis of Connells Group data matches the mortgage payments of first-time buyers with the rent they paid beforehand. It found that 56% of first-time buyers who bought in September took on a monthly mortgage payment higher than their previous rent, the largest share in at least a decade. The figure stood at 33% in September 2022 and 28% a year before that, and July was the last month in which fewer than half (47%) paid more after buying.
The average monthly mortgage payment for a buyer leaving the rental market reached £1,227. That is £39, or 8.6%, more than they paid in rent, or £1.09 for every £1.00 of former rent. Buyers in September 2022 spent 90p on their mortgage for each £1.00 of rent, and the main hurdle then was raising a deposit while house prices rose quickly.
Hamptons says interest rates tend to decide over time whether first-time buyers pay more on a mortgage than they did in rent, though deposit size is often the key factor for an individual buyer. Buyers who paid more than their previous rent bought with an average loan-to-value ratio of 91%, equivalent to a 9% deposit. Those who paid less averaged 83% LTV, or a 17% deposit.
Age made a difference too:
- Buyers in their 40s: 67% took on a payment above their former rent, with mortgage costs 18.2% higher on average
- Buyers in their 30s: 58% paid more, at 6.9% above their former rent
- Buyers in their 20s: 47% paid more, though their average payment was 7.5% below their former rent
Hamptons links the pattern partly to older buyers choosing larger homes and taking shorter mortgage terms, averaging 27 years for buyers in their 40s against 31 years for those in their 30s and 34 years for those in their 20s.
“When interest rates were low, the financial case for tenants to buy as soon as they could was fairly straightforward,” said Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons.
“Saving a deposit was difficult, but buying usually brought an immediate fall in monthly housing costs, alongside the chance to fix those costs for longer. Higher mortgage rates have turned that equation on its head.
“Today, more than half of renters who buy are taking on a higher monthly payment than the rent they have left behind. The long-term benefits of home ownership – building equity, greater security and eventually owning a home outright – remain, but the immediate monthly saving that once rewarded tenants for making the leap has largely disappeared.
“Meanwhile, rental growth on newly let homes continues to gather pace, with the acceleration now spread fairly evenly across markets outside the capital. So far this year, higher rents have mainly been felt by tenants moving home. But if growth continues to pick up, it is likely to feed through to more existing tenants in the coming months as the gap between new and existing rents widens.”
