Zoopla’s recent PRS market update headlines that the current rent rises now stand at 10.5 per cent this year which has fallen from 12.2 per cent in 2022.

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However over the past eighteen months rental inflation has remained in double digits and atypical tenant its paying up to £2,800 more than in 2020.

Scotland in spite of the SNP’s rent controls has seen the fastest increase in rents over the past year of 12.7 per cent as its regulations is now making landlords maximise rents for new lets.

The portal states the obvious when saying the UK private rental sector is continually experiencing the high demand outstripping supply which of course raises prices and rental affordability is now at its worst state since a decade ago.

However the property portal claims demand for rented homes is slowing down albeit from a high plateau but of course supply remains low ensuring rent rises.

Demand for rented residences has apparently dropped by 20 per cent from a year ago whilst it is still 51 per cent higher than the five-year average and PRS housing stock is 20 per cent higher than in 2022, however it stays at 30 per cent below the average for this time of year.

The portal reports that average rents have risen by £110 per month over the last twelve months which is an annual increase of £1,320 and over the last three years new lets’ rents have shot up by an average of £2,772 per year. 

Higher mortgage rates have increased rental demand which in turn raises purchasing costs restricting the number of hopeful homebuyers having to rent ‘homes’.

First time buyers are now having to face mortgage repayments which are more expensive at 5.5 per cent making it cheaper to continue with renting, especially in the South of England.

So overall the current supply and demand market forces will not change over 2024. Rental growth will be determined in the short term by affordability levels and how tenants manage to cope, rather than any major changes to supply and demand.

The portal’s market snapshot says: “Increasingly unaffordable rental costs should temper demand and lead to a reduction in the rate of growth. However, the scale of the mismatch between supply and demand means that rental growth will reduce more slowly than might be expected.