Newly agreed rents across Great Britain rose by 2.7% over the last 12 months, the fastest pace since November 2024, taking the average rent on a new let to £1,433 a month.
The figures from Hamptons, based on Connells Group data, mark the tenth straight month in which the annual pace of rental growth on new lets has accelerated. The average new-let rent stood at £1,396 in September last year.
Southern regions lead as growth spreads evenly
Unlike the post-Covid pickup, which was led by the Midlands and the North, the current acceleration is spread fairly evenly across the country. The South East recorded annual growth of 4.6% and the South West 4.1%, both above 4.0% for the first time since September 2024.
Greater London new lets averaged £2,357 a month, up 1.5% on the year, with inner London at £2,812 and outer London at £2,023. Outside the capital, new-let rents averaged £1,196, up 3.3%. The North East, North West and Yorkshire all posted growth above 3%.
Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, said: “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.”
Where an existing tenant’s rent increased, the average rise held at 5.6%, unchanged from August but up from 5.3% a year earlier. Tenants in Scotland faced the largest average increase when rents changed, at 6.9%.
This follows Residential Landlord’s report on the July Hamptons index, when new-let growth hit a 19-month high. Two months on, the September data shows that momentum building rather than fading.
Sitting tenants may feel the effect next
Growth across all tenancies, movers and stayers combined, has slowed even as new-let growth quickens. The annual rate for the whole stock has halved from 3.9% in the year to September 2025 to 1.9% over the year to September 2026. Hamptons expects that gap to close, meaning landlords yet to review sitting rents are likely to act in the coming months.
The pattern echoes other trackers: HomeLet’s July index also showed rents rising with London growth at 6%. National coverage of the Hamptons September findings underlines how firmly the reacceleration is now established across regions.
Opinion
Ten straight months of quickening new-let growth tells landlords that demand still outruns supply, whatever the sales market does. Pricing new lets against fresh evidence rather than old habits is the difference between keeping pace and leaving money behind.
