Hartlepool sees second highest fall in rent rates in country

Hartlepool has seen the second highest fall in rental rates for housing in the country, new figures have shown.
Baden Street in Hartlepool.Baden Street in Hartlepool.
Baden Street in Hartlepool.

The average rent for a property in England grew by 0.64% in the year to April, as falling rents in London (-0.27%) continued to weigh down on otherwise resilient rental growth in the rest of England (1.19%), according to the latest Landbay Rental Index.

In Hartlepool, rental rates saw a fall of 1.19%.

The average rent per month for houses in the town is at £404 according to the index.

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Hotspots for rental growth over the last 12 months include Leicester (3.02%), Nottingham (2.96%) and Northamptonshire (2.44%), with eight of the top ten ‘rental risers’ situated in either the East Midlands or East of England.

The two regions, as well as the South West, continue to lead the way in terms of rental growth, with annual increases of 2.06%, 1.50%, and 1.54% respectively.

Six London boroughs feature in the UK’s bottom 10 ‘rental fallers’ over the past year, including Kensington and Chelsea (-1.40%), Kingston upon Thames (-0.98%), Hammersmith and Fulham (-0.81%), Tower Hamlets (-0.79%), Barnet (-0.69%) and Harrow (-0.68%), and in total half of the London boroughs (17 out of 33) have seen rents fall year on year. Meanwhile, Bexley (1.37%), Havering (1.30%) and City of London (1.19%) have all seen rents rise by more than 1%, with just six boroughs exhibiting growth ahead of the 0.64% average in England.

The average rent paid for a property in England now stands at £1,232, or £768 if you exclude London.

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The lowest average rent is found in the North East (£552), where rents have shown very modest long-term growth over the past five years, increasing by just 1.8% during this time.

Despite a year on year increase of 0.26%, rents in the North East have been falling since the start of 2018.

John Goodall, CEO and co-founder of Landbay said: “Falling rents in some parts of the country, especially expensive prime London locations, distort the picture for the rest of England where rents are continuing to grow at a steady pace.

"Wherever they’re based, landlords have had to face a significant amount of complex legislation in recent years, most of which has cost them a lot of money, so it wouldn’t be surprising if they were to dramatically hike rents later in the year to recoup their losses.

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“Partnered with the fact that rental demand shows no signs of giving up, prices will continue to rise over the coming years unless the government takes action.

"Without a radical house building plan for both first-time buyers and purpose-built rental properties, there is no way supply will ever be able to catch up with demand.”