Private rent and house prices, UK: May 2025

• Average UK monthly private rents increased by 7.4%, to £1,335, in the 12 months to April 2025 (provisional estimate); this annual growth rate is down from 7.7% in the 12 months to March 2025.

• Average rents increased to £1,390 (7.5%) in England, £795 (8.7%) in Wales, and £999 (5.1%) in Scotland, in the 12 months to April 2025.

• In Northern Ireland, average rents increased to £843 (7.8%) in the 12 months to February 2025.

• In England, private rents annual inflation was highest in the North East (9.4%) and lowest in Yorkshire and The Humber (4.0%), in the 12 months to April 2025.

• Average UK house prices increased by 6.4%, to £271,000, in the 12 months to March 2025 (provisional estimate); this annual growth rate is up from 5.5% in the 12 months to February 2025.

• Average house prices increased to £296,000 (6.7%) in England, £208,000 (3.6%) in Wales, and £186,000 (4.6%) in Scotland, in the 12 months to March 2025.

Since March 2025, the Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR) has incorporated Northern Ireland, enabling us to produce average rent levels for Northern Ireland and for the UK. Read more in Section 10: Data sources and quality.

Average UK monthly private rents increased by 7.4% in the 12 months to April 2025 (provisional estimate). This was down from 7.7% in the 12 months to March 2025 and was below the record-high annual rise of 9.1% in March 2024.

Average UK house prices increased by 6.4% (provisional estimate), to £271,000, in the 12 months to March 2025. This annual growth was up from 5.5% in the 12 months to February 2025. Annual inflation has been generally increasing since its recent low point of negative 2.7% in the 12 months to December 2023.

HM Land Registry publishes the full UK House Price Index report and monthly data.

Our Housing prices in your area tool summarises the latest private rents and house price statistics for local areas. In May 2025, this tool's coverage was expanded from Great Britain to the UK.

In 2024, total transaction volumes for UK House Price Index (HPI) first estimates (provisional) returned to target levels, but transaction volumes for older periods and new builds remain lower than historically.

UK monthly rents estimates for the latest two months, and UK HPI estimates for the latest 12 months, are provisional and subject to revision (see Section 10: Data sources and quality). All statistics are non-seasonally adjusted estimates, unless stated otherwise.

Our How we measure rental price inflation blog post explains the differences between measures of new-let annual inflation and the Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR), which measures the price change of the entire privately rented stock.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) reported that tenant demand increased, and that the decline in new landlord instructions remains an enduring feature of the market. More information is available in the UK Residential Market Survey April 2025 report (PDF 4.8MB).

The average house price for England was £296,000 in March 2025, up 6.7% (£19,000) from a year earlier. This annual rise was higher than in the 12 months to February 2025 (5.4%).

The average house price for Wales was £208,000 in March 2025, up 3.6% (£7,000) from a year earlier. This annual rise was lower than in the 12 months to February 2025 (4.2%).

The average house price for Scotland was £186,000 in March 2025, up 4.6% (£8,000) from a year earlier. This annual rise was lower than in the 12 months to February 2025 (5.3%).

The average house price for Northern Ireland was £185,000 in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2025, up 9.5% (£16,000) from Quarter 1 2024.

On 1 April 2025, Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) rules changed in England and Northern Ireland, increasing the tax payable on properties valued above £125,000 (for non first-time buyers). HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) reported that sales in England and Northern Ireland in March 2025 were the highest since September 2021 (where increased volumes were also observed ahead of the October 2021 SDLT changes).

The SDLT changes are likely to have increased volumes and prices in areas where average prices are lower. For example, the North East was the English region with the highest house price annual inflation rate (14.3% in the 12 months to March 2025) and monthly inflation rate (4.2% between February 2025 and March 2025), but the lowest average price, at £168,000. This annual rate was up from 8.5% in the 12 months to February 2025 and represents the highest annual growth and monthly growth in the North East since September 2021.

Annual house price inflation was lowest in London, at 0.8% in the 12 months to March 2025. This was down from 1.4% in the 12 months to February 2025.

The average private rent in the UK was £1,335 per month in April 2025. This is £92 (7.4%) higher than the figure 12 months previously.

Figure 3: The average rent in the UK was £1,335 in April 2025

Average private rent, UK overview and across the UK, January 2015 to April 2025

Notes

1. Northern Ireland private rents data are currently available up to February 2025. To produce UK rents statistics up to April 2025, Northern Ireland's index for the latest two months has been estimated using the monthly average of Northern Ireland's latest two-month inflation rate.

2. UK PIPR estimates for March 2025 and April 2025 will be revised in line with PIPR's two-month revision policy. More information is available in Section 10: Data sources and quality.

3. Northern Ireland rents data are for advertised new lets.

4. Because of data collection limitations, Scotland rents data (used in the PIPR) are mainly for advertised new lets (see Section 10: Data sources and quality. Users should bear this in mind when comparing across the UK.

England

Average rent for England was £1,390 in April 2025, up 7.5% (£97) from a year earlier. This annual rise was lower than in the 12 months to March 2025 (7.8%) and below the record-high annual growth in the 12 months to November 2024 (9.2%).

Wales

Average rent for Wales was £795 in April 2025, up 8.7% (£64) from a year earlier. This annual rise was lower than in the 12 months to March 2025 (8.9%), but below the record-high annual rise of 9.9% in November 2023.

Scotland

Average rent for Scotland was £999 in April 2025, up 5.1% (£48) from a year earlier. This annual rise was lower than in the 12 months to March 2025 (5.7%). Scotland's annual inflation rate has been generally slowing since the record-high annual rise of 11.7% in August 2023. Recent monthly price falls in Lothian were the biggest contributor to the small decrease in Scotland's average rent price between March and April 2025.

Because of data collection limitations, Scotland rents data, which are used in the Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR) stock measure, are mainly for advertised new lets. From September 2022 to March 2025, measures relating to in-tenancy rent increases were implemented in Scotland (see Section 10: Data sources and quality). We advise users to bear this in mind when interpreting estimates for Scotland and comparing with other UK countries.

Northern Ireland

We incorporated Northern Ireland into the PIPR in March 2025, enabling us to produce average rent levels for Northern Ireland and for the UK.

Average rent in Northern Ireland was £843 in February 2025, up 7.8% (£61) from a year earlier. This annual rise was lower than in the 12 months to January 2025 (8.2%). Northern Ireland's annual inflation rate has been generally slowing since the record-high annual rise of 9.9% in April 2024.

Northern Ireland's rents data are for advertised new lets. We advise users to bear this in mind when comparing across the UK (see Section 10: Data sources and quality).

Figure 4: Rent annual inflation slowed across the UK

Private rents annual inflation, across the UK, January 2016 to April 2025

Notes

1. Northern Ireland rents data are currently available up to February 2025 and are for advertised new lets.

2. Because of data collection limitations, Scotland rents data (underlying the PIPR's stock measure) are mainly for advertised new lets (see Section 10: Data sources and quality). Users should bear this in mind when comparing across the UK.

The North East continued to have the highest inflation rate, at 9.4% in the 12 months to April 2025. This annual rise was unchanged since the 12 months to March 2025, so represents a joint-record-high annual growth rate for the North East.

Rent annual inflation remained lowest in Yorkshire and The Humber, at 4.0% in the 12 months to April 2025. This annual rise was lower than in the 12 months to March 2025 (4.6%) and marks the tenth consecutive month of slowing annual inflation.

London's annual inflation was 8.4% in the 12 months to April 2025, down from 9.1% in the 12 months to March 2025.

Average rent was highest in London (£2,246) and lowest in the North East (£728) in April 2025.

Figure 6: Privately renting a property is most expensive in London

Average private rent, English regions, January 2015 to April 2025

Average monthly private rents vary across local authorities in England and Wales, and Broad Rental Market Areas in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Average rent was highest in Kensington and Chelsea, London (£3,663). It was lowest in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland (£526), in April 2025. Excluding London, the local area with the highest average rent in April 2025 was Elmbridge, South East (£1,878).

Figure 7: Average rent was more than six times higher in the most expensive local area than in the least expensive

Average private rent and annual inflation, local authorities in England and Wales and broad rental market areas in Scotland and Northern Ireland, January 2015 to April 2025

Notes

1. Values of [x] in this tool represent data which are not available.

2. Northern Ireland rents data are currently available up to February 2025.

The average UK monthly private rent in April 2025 was highest for detached properties (£1,524) and lowest for flats and maisonettes (£1,309). Average UK private rent was highest for properties with four or more bedrooms (£2,001) and lowest for properties with one bedroom (£1,082).

Figure 8: Private rent increases with property size

Average private rent, local authorities in England and Wales (April 2025) and broad rental market areas in Scotland (April 2025) and Northern Ireland (February 2025)

Notes

1. Northern Ireland rents data are currently available up to February 2025.

Administrative data

Data that are already collected for other purposes through day-to-day activities. Examples include health records or social security payments.

Annual percentage change

The rate at which prices rise and fall over a 12-month period. Interchangeable with "annual inflation" (or "annual growth", if positive).

Non-seasonally adjusted

A non-seasonally adjusted series is one that includes seasonal effects.

Price inflation

Inflation is the rate at which prices rise and fall over time.

The Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR) is released as official statistics in development and is subject to revisions if methodology improvements are identified. Read more in our Guide to official statistics in development.

UK House Price Index

HM Land Registry publishes the full UK House Price Index (HPI) report and monthly data. Additionally, the Registers of Scotland publishes UK HPI reports, and Land and Property Services Northern Ireland publishes Northern Ireland HPI reports.

UK HPI's revision policy is in Section 4 of HMLR's About the UK House Price Index guidance.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) and HMLR have been working collaboratively to improve UK HPI transactions volumes and reduce the size of revisions. In 2024, HMLR successfully returned to processing over 40% of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) provisional sales estimate for UK HPI's first estimate (the target specified in the UK HPI quality and methodology guidance). UK HPI sales volume estimates for older periods and new builds remain lower than historical averages, but continue to improve. Users should be aware that revisions may be larger than they have been historically, and should note the greater uncertainty around new build prices. Further information is available in HMLR's UK House Price Index summary.

The ONS is currently exploring potential methodological improvements, aimed at reducing revisions in UK HPI estimates. Read more in our UK HPI monthly imputation methods paper (PDF, 445KB).

UK HPI re-referencing

In our February 2025 release, we updated the UK HPI reference period to January 2023. UK HPI indices now report that January 2023 equals 100. Re-referencing ensures the UK HPI reflects the price of the "average" property currently being sold and shifts the entire price level series for each geography and breakdown by a constant percentage. Read more in Section 10: Data sources and quality of our February 2025 bulletin and in our Keeping average house prices up to date blog post.

Price Index of Private Rents

The reference period for indexing the PIPR is January 2023 and statistics are available from January 2015. In March 2025, PIPR coverage was expanded to the whole UK and small improvements were made to the Great Britain historical series by incorporating additional data.

Our Price Index of Private Rents, UK: historical series dataset links the pre-2015 Index of Private Housing Rental Prices (IPHRP) trends with PIPR trends from 2015 onwards, down to region level. We advise caution when comparing pre-2015 trends with later estimates because of the methodology change in January 2015.

Our Private rental prices development plan summarises our responses and actions taken relating to user requests, and outlines planned further developments relating to PIPR.

Sources for Price Index of Private Rents

Our Quality assurance of administrative data used in the PIPR describes PIPR data sources.

Data collection for Price Index of Private Rents

In England and Wales, achieved rents data are collected for both new and existing tenancies. After rapid price rises between mid-2023 and mid-2024, price inflation in Brent decreased in 2024 and the average rent price fell 2.1% between October 2024 and April 2025.

In Wales, Newport's annual inflation rate has been slowing since January 2025, following the rapid price rises reported in winter 2024 by both PIPR and Welsh rent officers, which led to record-high annual growth in the 12 months to January 2025 (21.4%). 

In Scotland, average rent in Dumfries and Galloway rose sharply in winter 2024, before slowing to negative monthly price inflation by April 2025.

In Northern Ireland, rents data are for newly advertised lets.

Scotland rents data are predominantly for advertised new lets, with only a small proportion based on existing lets data. Therefore, price changes for existing tenancies are largely estimated for Scotland.

From September 2022 to March 2025, measures relating to in-tenancy rent increases were implemented in Scotland. More detail is in our PIPR dataset and in Section 10: data sources and quality, of our March 2025 bulletin. Within this period, these measures did not apply to the price of new lets used to estimate the price of existing tenancies. Scottish Government statisticians believe that the lack of data on existing tenants, to which these measures previously applied, will have led to overestimation in stock prices and indices for Scotland during this period.

Revision Policy for the Price Index of Private Rents

Northern Ireland rents data are not available for the latest two months. For a given Northern Ireland series (including breakdowns), index values for the latest two months have been estimated by applying the monthly average of the latest-available two-month inflation rate for that series to the latest-available index value for that series.

These imputed index values for the latest two months for Northern Ireland were aggregated with the corresponding data for Great Britain using PIPR weights to produce provisional UK estimates for the latest two months, for each UK series (including UK-level breakdowns).

Each subsequent month, updated Northern Ireland data are used to revise estimates for the UK, providing a two-month revision period for the UK series in PIPR.

Strengths and limitations

Strengths

The PIPR reflects price changes for all privately rented properties, including existing tenancies and newly-advertised lets.

The PIPR produces prices that are comparable over time and publishes to an increased level of geographic granularity.

Limitations

While mitigation efforts are made, price changes at a local level can be influenced by the type and number of properties collected in any given period, which may lead to volatility. Longer-term trends should be considered for lower-level geographic breakdowns, rather than monthly movements.

Estimates for the City of London and Isles of Scilly are not published because of low collection volumes.

Because of differences in data collection and housing policy, caution is advised when comparing estimates for Scotland and Northern Ireland with other areas in England and Wales, and within Scotland. More information is available in our PIPR quality and methodology information (QMI).

Future developments

Following our request for a quality-focused assessment of the PIPR, the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) published their Spotlight on Quality Assessment: PIPR report in October 2024. Our Private rental prices development plan: updated April 2025 article outlines our progress towards meeting these requirements and plans for further action.

Contact us at [email protected].