Tenant demand also rose, the firm said, with a 24% annual increase in the number of renters searching for a home in March, and double-digit rises across every region of Great Britain. Over the same period, there were 1% fewer homes available to rent than a year earlier, and supply was 33% lower than in March 2019.
Hamptons said rents for renewals showed a similar pattern: in March, renewal rents increased 3.1% year on year, up from 2.2% in February. It added that fewer properties were being let above the advertised rent, with 6% doing so in the first quarter of 2026, down from 56% in the first quarter of 2021.
The firm said March was the penultimate month in which landlords in England could accept offers above the advertised price, and argued that the change would affect how rents are set rather than the final level achieved. It added that if rental growth strengthens further, there may be a widening gap between advertised and agreed rents after the Renters’ Rights Act takes effect, as advertised rents could become more of a ceiling than a floor.
| Annual rental growth | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region | New lets | Renewals | ||
| Average monthly rent | YoY % | Average monthly rent | YoY % | |
| Greater London | £2,305 | 2.2% | £2,164 | 0.3% |
| Inner London | £2,733 | 4.1% | £2,616 | -1.5% |
| Outer London | £1,990 | 0.3% | £1,831 | 2.2% |
| South | £1,345 | 0.2% | £1,272 | 4.3% |
| East of England | £1,260 | 0.6% | £1,262 | 5.7% |
| South East | £1,465 | 0.0% | £1,350 | 3.0% |
| South West | £1,247 | 0.2% | £1,166 | 5.2% |
| Midlands | £1,046 | 1.5% | £981 | 4.9% |
| East Midlands | £999 | 1.8% | £936 | 4.9% |
| West Midlands | £1,087 | 1.2% | £1,021 | 4.8% |
| North | £955 | 0.3% | £905 | 5.1% |
| North East | £823 | -1.3% | £772 | 2.6% |
| North West | £1,028 | 0.9% | £944 | 6.6% |
| Yorkshire & Humber | £917 | 0.2% | £914 | 4.1% |
| Wales | £879 | -0.8% | £818 | 2.5% |
| Scotland | £1,014 | 0.8% | £934 | 4.0% |
| Great Britain | £1,373 | 1.0% | £1,294 | 3.1% |
| Great Britain (Ex London) | £1,134 | 0.4% | £1,071 | 4.6% |
| Source: Hamptons using Connells Group data | ||||
“Rising mortgage rates are once again shaping landlord behaviour, as many look for ways to manage higher borrowing costs,” said Aneisha Beveridge (pictured right), head of research at Hamptons. “The last time interest rates rose sharply back in 2022, they unleashed record rental growth.
“Landlords were able to pass higher mortgage costs on to tenants as would-be buyers increasingly chose to rent until rates began falling back, stoking demand for rental homes. In effect, three or four years of typical rental growth were squeezed into the space of 12 months.