Private rent and house prices, UK: June 2025

• Average UK monthly private rents increased by 7.0%, to £1,339, in the 12 months to May 2025 (provisional estimate); this annual growth rate is down from 7.4% in the 12 months to April 2025.

• Average rents increased to £1,394 (7.1%) in England, £799 (8.5%) in Wales, and £999 (4.5%) in Scotland in the 12 months to May 2025.

• Average rents increased to £848 (7.7%) in Northern Ireland in the 12 months to March 2025.

• Private rents annual inflation in England was highest in the North East (9.7%) and lowest in Yorkshire and The Humber (3.7%) in the 12 months to May 2025.

• Average UK house prices increased by 3.5%, to £265,000, in the 12 months to April 2025 (provisional estimate); this annual growth rate is down from 7.0% in the 12 months to March 2025.

• Average house prices increased to £286,000 (3.0%) in England, £210,000 (5.3%) in Wales, and £191,000 (5.8%) in Scotland in the 12 months to April 2025.

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

Feedback on the PIPR statistics

From 18 June to 10 September 2025, we invite all users to provide feedback on how you use PIPR statistics, how well they meet your needs and how we could better explain PIPR methods on our survey page. 

Average UK monthly private rents increased by 7.0% in the 12 months to May 2025 (provisional estimate). This was down from 7.4% in the 12 months to April 2025 and represents the fifth consecutive month of slowing annual inflation.

Average UK house prices increased by 3.5% (provisional estimate), to £265,000, in the 12 months to April 2025. This annual growth was down from 7.0% in the 12 months to March 2025. This is the first slowing of UK annual house price inflation since December 2023. This was caused by a price fall between March 2025 and April 2025, which coincided with Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) changes.

SDLT rules changed in England and Northern Ireland on 1 April 2025. These changes increased the tax payable on properties valued above £125,000 (for non first-time buyers). There were unusually high sales volumes in March 2025, followed by low volumes in April 2025 in England and Northern Ireland, as reported by HM Revenue and Customs’s Monthly property transactions series.

It is likely that the April 2025 SDLT changes led to temporarily higher average house prices in March 2025 because buyers were motivated to complete purchases before the changes came into effect. A similar pattern was observed in autumn 2021, when volumes and average prices increased before the October 2021 SDLT changes.

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

Our local housing statistics tool summarises the latest private rents and house price statistics for local areas. From May 2025, this tool covers the UK.

Total transaction volumes for UK House Price Index (HPI) first estimates (provisional) have met target levels from 2024 onwards. However, transaction volumes for older periods and new builds remain lower than they have been historically.

We have reviewed our UK HPI methodology and we expect to make an improvement to HPI imputation methods in the coming months. This is likely to reduce revisions to early UK HPI estimates. We will continue to monitor revisions and identify potential further methods improvements in the future. For technical background information from an earlier stage of the review, see our UK HPI monthly imputation methods paper (PDF, 445KB).

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.

We explain 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, in our How we measure rental price inflation blog post.

The average house price for England was £286,000 in April 2025. This is up 3.0% (£8,000) from a year earlier. This annual rise was lower than in the 12 months to March 2025 (7.3%).

The average house price for Wales was £210,000 in April 2025. This is up 5.3% (£10,000) from a year earlier. This annual rise was higher than in the 12 months to March 2025 (4.3%).

The average house price for Scotland was £191,000 in April 2025. This is up 5.8% (£10,000) from a year earlier. This annual rise was higher than in the 12 months to March 2025 (5.2%).

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

The North East was the English region with the highest house price inflation in the 12 months to April 2025, at 6.4%. This was down from 15.3% in the 12 months to March 2025.

Annual house price inflation was lowest in the South West, at 0.9% in the 12 months to April 2025. This was down from 5.9% in the 12 months to March 2025.

London was the only English region where the house price annual inflation rate was higher in April 2025 (3.3%) than in March 2025 (0.9%).

The average private rent in the UK was £1,339 per month in May 2025. This is £87 (7.0%) higher than 12 months ago.

Figure 3: The average rent in the UK was £1,339 in May 2025

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

Notes:

1. Northern Ireland private rents data are currently available up to March 2025. To produce UK rents statistics up to May 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 April 2025 and May 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. Scotland rents data (used in the PIPR) are mainly for advertised new lets because of data collection limitations (see Section 10: Data sources and quality). Users should keep this in mind when comparing across UK.

England

Average rent for England was £1,394 in May 2025. This is up 7.1% (£92) from a year earlier. This annual rise was lower than in the 12 months to April 2025 (7.5%) and represents the sixth consecutive month of slowing annual inflation.

Wales

Average rent for Wales was £799 in May 2025. This is up 8.5% (£63) from a year earlier. This annual rise was lower than in the 12 months to April 2025 (8.7%), and below the record-high annual rise of 9.9% in November 2023.

Scotland

Average rent for Scotland was £999 in May 2025. This is up 4.5% (£43) from a year earlier. This annual rise was lower than in the 12 months to April 2025 (5.1%) and is the lowest annual rise for three years. Scotland's annual inflation rate has been generally slowing since the record-high annual rise of 11.7% in August 2023.

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

Northern Ireland

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

Average rent in Northern Ireland was £848 in March 2025. This is up 7.7% (£61) from a year earlier. This annual rise was lower than in the 12 months to February 2025 (7.8%). 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 keep this in mind when comparing across the UK (see Section 10: Data sources and quality).

Figure 4: Rent annual inflation slowed in all countries

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

Notes:

1. Northern Ireland rents data are currently available up to March 2025 and are for advertised new lets.
2. Scotland rents data (underlying the PIPR stock measure) are mainly for advertised new lets because of data collection limitations (see Section 10: Data sources and quality). Users should keep this in mind when comparing across the UK.

The North East continued to have the highest rent annual inflation rate, at 9.7% in the 12 months to May 2025. This was up from 9.4% in the 12 months to April 2025, and is a record-high annual rise for the North East since this series began in 2015.

Rent annual inflation remained lowest in Yorkshire and The Humber, at 3.7% in the 12 months to May 2025. This annual rise was lower than in the 12 months to April 2025 (4.0%) and is the eleventh consecutive month of slowing annual inflation.

London's annual inflation was 7.7% in the 12 months to May 2025. This is down from 8.4% in the 12 months to April 2025.

Average rent was highest in London (£2,249) and lowest in the North East (£733) in May 2025.

Figure 6: It is most expensive to privately rent a property in London

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

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

Average rent was highest in Kensington and Chelsea, London (£3,643) in May 2025. It was lowest in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland (£524). Excluding London, the local area with the highest average rent in May 2025 was Elmbridge, South East (£1,868).

Brent’s average rent price has fallen 3.8% since October 2024, following rapid price rises between mid-2023 and mid-2024.

Newport’s annual inflation rate has stabilised at high levels following rapid price rises in winter 2024, as also reported by Welsh rent officers. This led to record-high annual growth in the 12 months to January 2025 (21.4%).

Average rent in Dumfries and Galloway rose sharply in winter 2024, before falling between March 2025 and May 2025.

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 May 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 March 2025.

The average UK monthly private rent in May 2025 was highest for detached properties (£1,529) and lowest for flats and maisonettes (£1,314). Average UK private rent was highest for properties with four or more bedrooms (£2,004) and lowest for properties with one bedroom (£1,086).

Figure 8: Private rent increases with property size

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

Notes:

1. Northern Ireland rents data are currently available up to March 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 (HMLR) 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 HMLR’s 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.

We have reviewed UK HPI methodology and we expect to make an improvement to HPI imputation methods in the coming months. This is likely to reduce revisions to early UK HPI estimates. We will continue to monitor revisions and identify potential further methods improvements in the future. For technical background information from an earlier stage of the review, see our UK HPI monthly imputation methods paper (PDF, 445KB).

UK House Price Index re-referencing

We updated the UK HPI reference period to January 2023 in our February 2025 release. 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 Private rent and house prices, UK: February 2025 bulletin and in our Keeping average house prices up to date blog.

Price Index of Private Rents

The reference period for indexing the PIPR is January 2023 and statistics are available from January 2015. PIPR coverage was expanded to the whole UK in March 2025, 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.

We summarise our responses and actions taken relating to user requests, and outline planned further developments relating to PIPR in our Private rental prices development plan.

Sources for Price Index of Private Rents

We describe PIPR data sources in our Quality assurance of administrative data used in the PIPR methodology.

Data collection for Price Index of Private Rents

In England and Wales, achieved rents data are collected for both new and existing tenancies. In Northern Ireland, rents data are for newly advertised lets. Scotland rents data are mainly for advertised new lets, with only a small proportion based on existing lets data. Price changes for existing tenancies are therefore largely estimated for Scotland.

Measures relating to in-tenancy rent increases were implemented in Scotland from September 2022 to March 2025. 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. More detail is available in our PIPR, UK: monthly price statistics dataset and in Section 10: data sources and quality of our Private rent and house prices, UK: March 2025 bulletin.

Revision policy for 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 two-month inflation rate available for that series to the latest index value available 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).

Updated Northern Ireland data are used to revise estimates for the UK each subsequent month. This provides 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

Price changes at a local level can be influenced by the type and number of properties collected in any given period. While mitigation efforts are made, this 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.

Caution is advised when comparing estimates for Scotland and Northern Ireland with other areas in England and Wales, and within Scotland, because of differences in data collection and housing policy. 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. We outline our progress towards meeting these requirements and plans for further action in our Private rental prices development plan: updated April 2025 article.

Contact us at hpi@ons.gov.uk.