Average advertised rents dipped at the end of 2025, but structural constraints continue to underpin the market
Average asking rents for newly listed properties outside London slipped in the final quarter of 2025, but overall rental growth for the year remained positive against a backdrop of constrained supply.
According to the latest Rightmove Rental Trends Tracker, the average advertised rent for new listings outside the capital fell by 1.1% (£15) in the fourth quarter, bringing the typical monthly rent to £1,370. Over 2025 as a whole, average rents in these areas rose by 2.2% (£29) compared with 2024, marking the lowest year-end rental growth since 2018.
London followed a similar pattern. Average advertised rents in the capital declined by 0.7% (£20) in Q4 compared with the previous quarter, leaving the average advertised rent at £2,716 per month. Over the full year, London rents increased by 0.8%, the slowest annual rise since 2020, when rents in the capital fell following the onset of the pandemic.
Regional variation was marked. In 2025, average rents rose least in the North East (up 0.4%) and London (up 0.8%), while the strongest increases were recorded in the North West (up 3.6%) and Yorkshire and the Humber (up 3.1%).
Source: Rightmove
Rightmove’s data indicates some improvement in rental supply, with the total number of available rental homes currently 9% higher than a year earlier. Over a longer horizon, however, available stock is still down by around a third compared with 10 years ago, underlining the depth of the structural shortage of rental property.
Recent figures from UK Finance, covering both remortgages and new buy-to-let advances, suggest that buy-to-let investment activity is at its most buoyant level since 2022. The number of new buy-to-let mortgages taken out to purchase rental property in the year to October 2025 was 13% higher than in the same period of 2024, while buy-to-let remortgages rose by 23%, pointing to both fresh investment and landlords opting to retain existing stock.
Tenant competition remains firmer than before the pandemic, though conditions have eased from their peak. Rightmove recorded an average of 10 tenant enquiries per available rental listing in 2025, compared with six in 2019 and 14 in 2024.
Conditions vary significantly by region. In London, there were on average seven enquiries per property last year, whereas the North West and Scotland each saw around 16 enquiries per listing, indicating much tighter localised pressure.
Rightmove’s new daily buy-to-let mortgage tracker suggests that financing costs for landlords have become more manageable, which could help underpin further investment and, in turn, additional supply. For a landlord with a 25% deposit, the average two-year buy-to-let mortgage rate now stands at 4.84%, down from 5.51% a year earlier.
Looking ahead, Rightmove expects average advertised rents to rise by around 2% across 2026. The company notes that the balance between supply and demand has improved materially since the pandemic years, helping to moderate annual rent growth in 2025.
However, the underlying shortage of rental homes remains a central feature of the market, and Rightmove anticipates that this will continue to exert upward pressure on rents in the year ahead.
“There is still a long-term shortage of available rental homes, but it looks like landlords are taking advantage of cheaper available mortgage rates, and more available homes will benefit tenants,” said Colleen Babcock (pictured right), property expert at Rightmove.
“Existing tenants or those looking to rent their own home for the first time are likely to experience a much more settled and balanced market than a few years ago, when the competition to secure a home was frenetic. There is much greater availability of homes, and fewer tenants to compete with now, which should hopefully make the experience more positive for renters.”
From a policy and industry perspective, sector bodies continue to stress that recent signs of stabilisation should not be mistaken for a full recovery in rental dynamics.
“These figures show the rental market is gradually moving away from the volatility of recent years and towards a more balanced position,” said Nathan Emerson, chief executive of industry body Propertymark. “However, moderation should not be mistaken for recovery.
“Rental supply remains well below the pace needed across the long-term to stay in keeping with demand. While competition has eased, demand is still higher than pre-pandemic norms in many parts of the country. This imbalance continues to place upward pressure on rents.”
Emerson added that while improving buy-to-let mortgage affordability and renewed landlord confidence are encouraging signs, long-term policy stability will be essential if this is to translate into a sustained increase in supply. “Without this, rents may rise more slowly but are unlikely to fall,” he said.
“Moving further into 2026, a steady increase in rents reflects a market that is calmer, but still constrained, underlining the need for continued investment in the private rented sector.”
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