Private rent and house prices, UK: September 2025

• Average UK monthly private rents increased by 5.7%, to £1,348, in the 12 months to August 2025 (provisional estimate); this annual growth rate is down from 5.9% in the 12 months to July 2025.

• Average rents increased to £1,403 (5.8%) in England, £811 (7.8%) in Wales, and £1002 (3.5%) in Scotland, in the 12 months to August 2025.

• In Northern Ireland, average rents increased to £860 (7.2%), in the 12 months to June 2025.

• In England, private rents annual inflation was highest in the North East (9.2%) and lowest in Yorkshire and The Humber (3.4%), in the 12 months to August 2025.

• Average UK house prices increased by 2.8%, to £270,000, in the 12 months to July 2025 (provisional estimate); this annual growth rate is down from 3.6%, in the 12 months to June 2025.

• Average house prices increased to £292,000 (2.7%) in England, £209,000 (2.0%) in Wales, and £192,000 (3.3%) in Scotland, in the 12 months to July 2025.

We introduced an improvement to the UK House Price Index's methodology on August 2025, which will reduce the size of revisions seen in provisional estimates in future publications. More information is available at "Revisions" in Section 2: UK private rent and house prices of our Private rent and house prices, UK: August 2025 bulletin.

Average UK monthly private rents increased by 5.7%, in the 12 months to August 2025 (provisional estimate). This was down from 5.9% in the 12 months to July 2025 and represents the eighth consecutive month of slowing annual inflation.

Average UK house prices increased by 2.8% (provisional estimate) to £270,000, in the 12 months to July 2025. This annual growth was down from 3.6% in the 12 months to June 2025.

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. From May 2025, this tool covers the UK.

Revisions

On 20 August 2025, we introduced an improvement to the House Price Index's (HPI's) imputation method for Great Britain, which reduces initial overestimation of new build provisional estimates. Since this methods improvement increases the accuracy of our initial estimates, we expect overall revisions between provisional (first) and final revised (13th) UK HPI estimates to be smaller in the future. More detail about this methods improvement is available in our recent blog and in section 4.9 of HMLR's About the UK House Price Index document.

UK HPI first estimates (provisional) are based on sales volumes reflecting around 47% of all sales in Great Britain in July 2025. 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 average house price for England was £292,000 in July 2025, up 2.7% (£8,000) from a year earlier. This annual rise was lower than in the 12 months to June 2025 (3.4%).

The average house price for Wales was £209,000 in July 2025, up 2.0% (£4,000) from a year earlier. This annual rise was lower than in the 12 months to June 2025 (2.8%).

The average house price for Scotland was £192,000 in July 2025, up 3.3% (£6,000) from a year earlier. This annual rise was lower than in the 12 months to June 2025 (5.4%).

The average house price for Northern Ireland was £185,000 in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2025, up 5.5% (£10,000) from Quarter 2 2024.

The North East was the English region with the highest house price inflation, at 7.9%, in the 12 months to July 2025. This was up from 7.7% in the 12 months to June 2025.

Annual house price inflation was lowest in London, at 0.7%, in the 12 months to July 2025. This was down from 0.9% in the 12 months to June 2025.

The average private rent in the UK was £1,348 per month in August 2025. This is £73 (5.7%) higher than 12 months ago.

Figure 3: The average monthly rent in the UK was £1,348 in August 2025

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

Notes

1. Northern Ireland private rents data are currently available up to June 2025. To produce UK rents statistics up to August 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 July 2025 and August 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 UK.

England

Average rent for England was £1,403 in August 2025, up 5.8% (£76) from a year earlier. This annual rise was lower than in the 12 months to July 2025 (6.0%) and represents the ninth consecutive month of slowing annual inflation.

Wales

Average rent for Wales was £811 in August 2025, up 7.8% (£59) from a year earlier. This annual rise was lower than in the 12 months to July 2025 (7.9%) and below the record-high annual rise of 9.9% in November 2023.

Scotland

Average rent for Scotland was £1,002 in August 2025, up 3.5% (£34) from a year earlier. This annual rise was lower than in the 12 months to July 2025 (3.6%) and represents the lowest annual rise for more than three years. Scotland's annual inflation rate has been generally slowing since the record-high annual rise of 11.7% in August 2023.

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 April 2025, enabling us to produce average rent levels for Northern Ireland and for the UK.

Average rent in Northern Ireland was £860 in June 2025, up 7.2% (£58) from a year earlier. This annual rise was lower than in the 12 months to May 2025 (7.4%). 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 August 2025

Notes

1. Northern Ireland rents data are currently available up to June 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 rent annual inflation rate of all English regions, at 9.2%, in the 12 months to August 2025. This annual rise was higher than in the 12 months to July 2025 (8.9%).

Rent annual inflation remained lowest in Yorkshire and The Humber, at 3.4%, in the 12 months to August 2025. This annual rise was lower than in the 12 months to July 2025 (3.5%).

London's annual inflation was 5.7% in the 12 months to August 2025, down from 6.3% in the 12 months to July 2025. This was the ninth consecutive month of slowing annual inflation.

Average rent was highest in London (£2,253) and lowest in the North East (£745) in August 2025.

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

Average private rent, English regions, January 2015 to August 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 (£3,614). It was lowest in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland (£523), in August 2025. Excluding London, the local area with the highest average rent in August 2025 was Oxford, South East (£1,897).

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

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 August 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 June 2025.

The average UK monthly private rent in August 2025 was highest for detached properties (£1,536) and lowest for flats and maisonettes (£1,321). Average UK private rent was highest for properties with four or more bedrooms (£2,010) and lowest for properties with one bedroom (£1,094).

Figure 8: The average private rent increases with property size

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

Notes

1. Northern Ireland rents data are currently available up to June 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 4.4 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 are available in our recent blog and in section 4.9 of HMLR's About the UK House Price Index document.

The ONS and HMLR have been working collaboratively to improve UK HPI transactions volumes and reduce the size of revisions. HMLR successfully returned to processing over 40% of the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) provisional sales estimate for UK HPI's first estimate in 2024 (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 estimates. The methods improvement implemented on 20 August 2025 reduces uncertainty in new build estimates.

We will continue to monitor revisions and identify potential further methods for improvements in the future.

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 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 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 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.

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.

Measures relating to in-tenancy rent increases were implemented in Scotland from September 2022 to March 2025. More detail is available in our PIPR 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.

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: Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR) report in October 2024. Our Private rental prices development plan outlines our progress towards meeting these requirements and plans for further action.

Contact us at hpi@ons.gov.uk.