Private rent and house prices, UK: October 2026

• Average UK monthly private rent increased by 3.8%, to £1,406, in the 12 months to September 2026 (provisional estimate); this annual growth rate is unchanged from the 12 months to August 2026.

• Average rents increased to £1,466 (4.0%) in England, £848 (4.1%) in Wales, and £1,011 (0.7%) in Scotland, in the 12 months to September 2026.

• In Northern Ireland, average rents increased to £879 (1.7%), in the 12 months to July 2026.

• In England, private rent annual inflation was highest in the North West (5.7%), and lowest in London and the South East (both 3.5%), in the 12 months to September 2026.

• Average UK house prices increased by 0.9%, to £273,000, in the 12 months to August 2026 (provisional estimate); this annual growth rate is down from 1.2% in the 12 months to July 2026.

• Average house prices increased to £294,000 (0.4%) in England, £216,000 (3.1%) in Wales, and £198,000 (2.9%) in Scotland, in the 12 months to August 2026.

• The lowest annual inflation of English regions was in London (negative 2.2% in the 12 months to August 2026), driven by large falls in the average price of flats, which account for approximately half of sales in London.  

Average UK monthly private rent increased by 3.8%, in the 12 months to September 2026 (provisional estimate). This was unchanged from the 12 months to August 2026.

The average UK house price was £273,000 in August 2026 and increased by 0.9% (provisional estimate) in the 12 months to August 2026. This annual growth was down from 1.2% (revised estimate) in the 12 months to July 2026. This represented the fourth consecutive month of slowing in the UK annual rate and was driven by slowing annual rates in six of the nine English regions.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) reported in their August 2026 UK Residential Market Survey that UK-wide house prices continued to point to a modest degree of downward pressure, with London continuing to show a steeper rate of price decline than the UK average, while the North West continued reporting modest price growth.

HM Land Registry (HMLR) 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 across the UK.

Revisions

UK monthly rents estimates for the latest two months, and UK House Price Index (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.

UK HPI first estimates (provisional) are based on sales volumes reflecting around 53% of all sales in Great Britain in August 2026. Transaction volumes for older periods and new builds remain lower than they have been historically.

The average house price for England was £294,000 in August 2026, up by 0.4% (£2,000) from a year earlier. This annual inflation rate was lower than in the 12 months to July 2026 (0.9%).

The average house price for Wales was £216,000 in August 2026, up by 3.1% (£6,000) from a year earlier. This annual rise was higher than in the 12 months to July 2026 (2.2%).

The average house price for Scotland was £198,000 in August 2026, up by 2.9% (£5,000) from a year earlier. This annual rise was higher than in the 12 months to July 2026 (2.4%).

The average house price for Northern Ireland was £202,000 in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2026, up by 9.2% (£17,000) from Quarter 2 2025. Northern Ireland's annual inflation rate rose because average prices increased by a larger amount between Quarter 1 2026 and Quarter 2 2026 (2.1%) than between the same periods in 2025 (0.6%). Lower price growth in Quarter 2 2025 coincided with the April 2025 Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT changes) in Northern Ireland. This is the highest annual rate for Northern Ireland since Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2022 (10.1%).

The lowest annual house price percentage change was in London, where prices decreased by 2.2% in the 12 months to August 2026, up from an annual fall of 3.2% in the 12 months to July 2026. The average price in London is now £15,000 below the recent peak in July 2025 (£569,000), but £8,000 higher than the recent low in March 2026 (£546,000).

In London, the average price of flats decreased by 5.0% in the 12 months to August 2026. In contrast, average prices for London houses increased over the same period. Since flats account for half of all property sales in London compared with around one-fifth across Great Britain, falling London flat prices drove the annual overall decrease in London of 2.2% in the 12 months to August 2026.

The North East was the English region with the highest house price inflation, at 3.2%, in the 12 months to August 2026. This is down from 4.7% in the 12 months to July 2026.

The average monthly private rent in the UK was £1,406 in September 2026. This is £52 (3.8%) higher than 12 months ago.

Figure 3: The average monthly rent in the UK was £1,406 in September 2026

Average private rent, UK overview and across the UK, January 2015 to September 2026

Notes

1. Northern Ireland private rents data are currently available up to July 2026. To produce UK rents statistics up to September 2026, 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 August 2026 and September 2026 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) have historically been predominately advertised new lets (see Section 10: Data sources and quality). Users should bear this in mind when comparing across the UK.

England

Average monthly rent for England was £1,466 in September 2026, up by 4.0% (£56) from a year earlier. This annual rise was unchanged in the 12 months to August 2026 (4.0%).

Wales

Average monthly rent for Wales was £848 in September 2026, up by 4.1% (£33) from a year earlier. This annual rise was lower than in the 12 months to August 2026 (4.3%) and lower than the most recent peak of 8.9% in March 2025.

Scotland

Average monthly rent for Scotland was £1,011 in September 2026, up by 0.7% (£7) from a year earlier. This annual rise was lower than in the 12 months to August 2026 (1.1%) and was the lowest annual change ever reported for Scotland since the Price Index of Private Rents' (PIPR's) annual rate series began in January 2016.

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.

Previous data collection limitations meant that historically, Scotland rents data, which are used in the PIPR stock measure, were mainly for advertised new lets. The Scottish Government have recently improved their data collection process, which is increasing their collection of achieved rents for both existing and new tenancies. More information is in Section 4 of our Price Index of Private Rents quality and methodology information report.

Northern Ireland

Average monthly rent in Northern Ireland was £879 in July 2026, up by 1.7% (£14) from a year earlier. This annual rise was higher than in the 12 months to June 2026 (1.6%). 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 in Wales and Scotland while remaining unchanged in England

Private rents annual inflation, across the UK, January 2016 to September 2026

Notes

1. Northern Ireland rents data are currently available up to July 2026 and are for advertised new lets.
2. Because of data collection limitations, Scotland rents data (used in the PIPR) have historically been predominately advertised new lets (see Section 10: Data sources and quality). Users should bear this in mind when comparing across the UK.

The North West had the highest rent annual inflation rate of all English regions, at 5.7%, in the 12 months to September 2026. This was down from 5.8% in the 12 months to August 2026.

Annual inflation was lowest in London and the South East, both at 3.5% in the 12 months to September 2026. The annual inflation rate rose from 3.0% in the South East, while remaining unchanged in London, in the 12 months to August 2026.

Average rent was highest in London (£2,338) and lowest in the North East (£790) in September 2026.

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

Average private rent, English regions, January 2015 to September 2026

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

In September 2026, average monthly rent was highest in Kensington and Chelsea, London (£3,739) and lowest in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland (£556). Excluding London, the local area with the highest average monthly rent in September 2026 was Oxford, South East (£1,957).

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

Average private rent price and annual inflation, local authorities in England and Wales and Broad Rental Market Areas in Scotland and Northern Ireland, January 2015 to September 2026

Notes

1. Values of [x] in this tool represent data which are not available.
2. Northern Ireland rents data are currently available up to July 2026. 

The average UK monthly private rent in September 2026 was highest for detached properties (£1,597) and lowest for flats and maisonettes (£1,371). Average UK private rent was highest for properties with four or more bedrooms (£2,089) and lowest for properties with one bedroom (£1,140).

Figure 8: The average private rent price increases with property size

Average private rent price, local authorities in England and Wales (September 2026) and Broad Rental Market Areas in Scotland (September 2026) and Northern Ireland (July 2026)

Notes

1. Northern Ireland rents data are currently available up to July 2026. 

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.

Following actions taken in response to the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR's) Spotlight on Quality Assessment: PIPR report, in October 2024, we reviewed the "official statistics in development" status of the Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR). On 20 May 2026, PIPR data became "official statistics" and are no longer considered to be "in development". We will continue to work on PIPR as part of our commitment to the continuous improvement of our statistics. Read more in our Guide to official statistics in development and our Private rental prices development plan article.

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 publish Northern Ireland HPI reports.

UK HPI's revision policy is in Section 4.4 of HMLR's About the UK House Price Index guidance. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) introduced an improvement to HPI's imputation method for Great Britain on 20 August 2025, which reduces initial overestimation of new build estimates in provisional estimates. More detail about this methods improvement is available in our How we are developing our house price statistics blog post and in Section 4.9 of HMLR's About the UK House Price Index 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 uncertainty in new build estimates. This is because of low availability of new build data for the most recent months.

The methods improvement enacted on 20 August 2025 reduces uncertainty in new build estimates, and HMLR continues ongoing activity to reduce the average time to register new build sales. We will continue to monitor the new build series and UK HPI revisions, and to identify potential areas for further improvements in the future.

Price Index of Private Rents

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

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

Our Private rental prices development plan, UK: updated May 2026 summarises our updated 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.

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

Until recently, Scotland rents data were predominantly for advertised new lets, with only a small proportion based on existing lets data. Therefore, price changes for existing tenancies were largely estimated for Scotland. Scottish Government have been improving their data collection process, which is increasing their collection of achieved rents for both existing and new tenancies.

Measures relating to in-tenancy rent increases were implemented in Scotland from September 2022 to March 2025. More detail is available in our Price Index of Private Rents, UK dataset and in Section 10: Data sources and quality of our Private rent and house prices, UK: March 2025 bulletin. During 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 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. We used 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.

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). The PIPR measures the price change of the entire privately rented stock.

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 Price Index of Private Rents quality and methodology information (QMI) report.

Future developments

Following our request for a quality-focused assessment of the Private Index of Private Rents (PIPR), the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) published their Spotlight on Quality Assessment: PIPR report in October 2024.

We have reported progress through our Private rental prices development plan, with the last update published in May 2026. On 20 May 2026, we updated the status of PIPR from "official statistics in development" to "official statistics". We have engaged with the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) regarding next steps towards PIPR accreditation status. The next stage will be for the OSR to review our progress towards meeting the requirements laid out in their October 2024 Spotlight on Quality Assessment: PIPR report.

Contact us at hpi@ons.gov.uk.