Index Of Private Housing Rental Prices, Uk - December 2023 - Scotland increased by 6.3%

19th January 2024

Private rental prices paid by tenants in the UK rose by 6.2% in the 12 months to December 2023, unchanged from the annual percentage change in the 12 months to November 2023.

Annual private rental prices increased by 6.1% in England, 7.1% in Wales and 6.3% in Scotland in the 12 months to December 2023.

Within England, London had the highest annual percentage change in private rental prices in the 12 months to December 2023 at 6.8%, while the North East saw the lowest at 4.6%.

UK private rental prices
Private rental prices paid by tenants in the UK increased by 6.2% in the 12 months to December 2023 (provisional estimate). This was unchanged from the annual percentage change in the 12 months to November 2023, and represents the joint-highest annual percentage change since this UK data series began in January 2016.

Annual UK private rental price percentage change by country
England
In England, private rental prices increased by 6.1% in the 12 months to December 2023, unchanged from the annual percentage change in the 12 months to November 2023. When London is excluded from England, private rental prices increased by 5.7% in the 12 months to December 2023. The figures are the joint-highest annual percentage changes since these data series began in January 2006.

Wales
Private rental prices in Wales increased by 7.1% in the 12 months to December 2023. This was the highest of all the countries in Great Britain, but down from the record-high increase of 7.3% in the 12 months to November 2023.

Private sector measures of annual inflation for new tenancies tend to be higher than the Index of Private Housing Rental Prices' (IPHRP's) stock measure during periods of rising annual price inflation. For example, HomeLet's annual inflation for new tenancies in Wales recently rose to 11.0% in the 12 months to March 2023, whereas IPHRP's stock measure reported a substantially lower annual inflation rate of 4.4% for the same period. The recent rise in the IPHRP's annual inflation for Wales likely reflects the high annual inflation for new lets during the past year.

Since IPHRP measures rental price changes of the entire privately rented stock, changes in annual inflation of newly let rental prices take time to be reflected in IPHRP's measure. HomeLet’s annual inflation for new tenancies in Wales has generally slowed since its peak in the 12 months to March 2023, with new let annual inflation slowing to 7.7% in the 12 months to December 2023. IPHRP reported that Wales annual inflation of the stock slowed slightly in December 2023, down from the record-high annual inflation rate in November 2023. Our Measuring the UK housing market blog post provides more detail on the differences between stock and flow measures of rental prices.

Scotland
Private rental prices in Scotland increased by 6.3% in the 12 months to December 2023, up from 6.2% in the 12 months to November 2023. This is the highest annual rate since the Scotland data series began in January 2012. The Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) Scotland Act has capped in-tenancy rental price increases in Scotland since late 2022 (see Section 8: Measuring the data).

The IPHRP’s stock measure remains substantially below HomeLet’s annual inflation of 8.5% for new tenancies in Scotland in the 12 months to December 2023. The continued rise in the IPHRP’s annual inflation for Scotland since this Act was passed is likely to reflect the high annual inflation for new lets (that are not subject to the price cap) over the past year as it continues to feed into IPHRP’s stock measure.

Scotland rents data (underlying the IPHRP’s stock measure) are mainly for advertised new lets, which are not subject to the price cap. We advise users to bear this in mind when interpreting estimates for Scotland and comparing with other UK countries.

Northern Ireland
Private rental prices in Northern Ireland increased by 9.3% in the 12 months to October 2023. The annual rate for Northern Ireland has generally slowed since the recent peak of 10.0% in the 12 months to March 2023, but remains higher than for other UK countries. Northern Ireland data lag behind the rest of the UK and will be updated in our next Index of Private Housing Rental Prices, UK bulletin, to be published on 14 February 2024.

Red the full ONS report HERE