Rental price growth across Great Britain has slowed considerably since 2023, raising hopes that the market is moving towards a more sustainable balance.
Analysis from LegalforLandlords estimates that average rents increased by 2.9% between 2025 and 2026, compared with growth of 6.3% the previous year and 8.7% between 2023 and 2024.
The firm says the reduction in rent inflation has been accompanied by increasingly modest falls in tenant demand.
It argues that greater predictability under the Renters’ Rights Act could reinforce that trend by encouraging landlords to take a more measured approach to rent increases.
RENT GROWTH EASES
Average monthly rent increased from £1,174 in 2023 to £1,276 in 2024, representing annual growth of 8.7%.
Over the same period, LegalforLandlords’ measure of tenant demand fell from 35.7% to 31%, a reduction of 4.7 percentage points.
Between 2024 and 2025, rents rose by 6.3%, while demand declined by a smaller 2.8 percentage points.
The latest figures show rent growth slowing further to 2.9% between 2025 and 2026, alongside a 2.7 percentage-point reduction in demand.
The analysis suggests the market may be approaching a better balance, although it does not establish that the Renters’ Rights Act caused the change.
PREDICTABILITY FOR LANDLORDS
The Act generally restricts rent increases to once a year and requires landlords to use a prescribed process. Tenants can challenge increases they believe exceed the open-market rent.
Sim Sekhon (main picture), Group Chief Executive Officer of LegalforLandlords, says: “Rather than seeing this simply as a restriction on landlords, there is a strong argument that greater predictability could ultimately benefit both sides of the rental market.
“A stable rental market is a more secure rental market, and reliable tenant demand can be more valuable to a landlord than pursuing rapid rent growth only to find that higher prices lead to longer void periods, increased tenant turnover or even arrears.
“The objective shouldn’t be to push rents as high as possible. For landlords, sustainable rental income depends on finding the right balance between achieving a fair market rent and maintaining a successful, long-term tenancy.”
