Remember when moving out felt like freedom? These days, for millions of Brits, signing a tenancy agreement feels more like signing away half your life. I was chatting to a mate in Manchester the other day who earns what most would call a decent wage – just over forty grand – and he still got laughed out of three viewings because his salary “didn’t meet referencing criteria”. That conversation stuck with me, because it turns out he’s far from alone.
The numbers coming out right now paint a picture that’s both relieving and quietly terrifying at the same time. Yes, rental growth is finally slowing down after years of pain. But dig beneath the national headlines and you’ll find pockets of the country where rents are still climbing faster than wages – particularly in the places we used to think of as “affordable”.
The New Reality of Renting in Britain
Let’s start with the headline figure that’s going to be quoted in pubs and WhatsApp groups for months: the average UK private rent now sits at £1,525 per month. Do the maths that letting agents do – they typically want your annual salary to be 30 times the monthly rent – and you’re looking at needing £45,750 just to get through the door.
That’s before council tax, bills, or – heaven forbid – actually eating.
The weird part? This national average actually hides some genuinely good news. After years of double-digit rental inflation that made the 2021-2023 period feel like financial warfare, annual growth has dropped to just 2.2%. Homes are sitting empty for longer – 17 days on average now, which is properly significant when you remember properties were being snapped up in hours during the pandemic madness.
So why does it still feel so bloody hard?
Where Renting Is Actually Getting Easier
London, of all places, is starting to feel the chill. The capital’s average rent has fallen slightly year-on-year – from £2,233 to £2,208 if you average inner and outer boroughs together. That tiny drop translates to needing £66,240 instead of £66,990. In a city where rents went berserk post-pandemic, even standstill feels like relief.
Other areas seeing rents stagnate or dip include Birmingham (down 1.5%), Dundee, and parts of the South East where landlord exits flooded the market with choice. More properties, less frantic competition, tenants actually negotiating – remember when that last happened?
The rental market has taken a big step back toward something resembling normal after years of insanity. Renters finally have more choice and less panic.
– Property market analyst, 2025
The “Affordable” Towns Where It’s Getting Worse
Here’s where it gets interesting – and frankly a bit grim. The places that were supposed to be the escape hatches from London’s madness are now seeing some of the sharpest increases.
Take Carlisle. Rents there jumped 8.1% in a single year. Chester isn’t far behind at 7.4%, and Motherwell clocked in at 7%. These aren’t traditionally “hot” markets either – they’re cities where people moved precisely because rent was meant to be sane.
The West Midlands tells the same story on a regional level. Average rents rose 3.3%, pushing the salary needed from £33,900 to £35,010. That’s a bigger percentage jump than many London boroughs managed.
- Carlisle: +8.1% (highest in UK)
- Chester: +7.4%
- Motherwell: +7.0%
- North East: +4.5% regionally
- West Midlands: +3.3%
In my view, this is the real story of 2025 – the affordability crisis spreading rather than retreating.
Why Is This Happening Now?
Several forces have collided at once, and honestly, it’s fascinating if you’re the sort of nerd who finds property market dynamics compelling (guilty).
First, demand has genuinely softened. Net migration slowed sharply. More importantly, mortgage rates coming down from their 2023 peak meant a chunk of would-be renters suddenly qualified to buy. The great rental crunch of 2021-2024 was always partly artificial – too many people chasing too few homes because buying was impossible.
Second, supply is up 15% year-on-year. Some of that’s landlords selling up after tax changes and regulatory headaches, but some is accidental landlords (people who couldn’t sell and rented instead) finally offloading.
But – and this is crucial – the new supply is unevenly distributed. London and the South East got most of the extra homes. The North and Midlands? Not so much. Basic supply and demand: when everyone discovers the “cheap” cities at the same time, they stop being cheap.
The Salary Threshold Breakdown – Region by Region
Here’s the data that matters when you’re actually trying to move. These are the annual salaries typically required to pass referencing (30x monthly rent) based on November 2025 figures:
| Region | Avg Monthly Rent 2025 | Salary Needed | Change vs 2024 |
| London | £2,208 | £66,240 | -£750 (easier) |
| South East | £1,606 | £48,180 | -£480 |
| South West | £1,578 | £47,340 | +£150 |
| East of England | £1,367 | £41,010 | +£630 |
| North West | £1,176 | £35,280 | +£60 |
| West Midlands | £1,167 | £35,010 | +£1,110 (harder) |
| Yorkshire & Humber | £1,176 | £35,280 | +£660 |
| Scotland | £1,053 | £31,590 | +£540 |
| Northern Ireland | £924 | £27,720 | +£300 |
| UK Average | £1,525 | £45,750 |
Look at that West Midlands jump. Over a grand extra needed in twelve months. That’s the kind of increase that pushes people into house-shares well into their thirties.
What This Means for Real People
I keep thinking about nurses, teachers, police officers – the backbone jobs we clap for but apparently can’t house properly. In many parts of the Midlands and North, someone earning £30-35k – solid money by historical standards – is now officially “too poor” to rent a one or two-bed place alone.
That’s not drama. That’s just maths.
The seasonal factor makes it worse. Every December, agents report a mini-surge as people try to move before Christmas. Supply dips, competition spikes, and suddenly that “slowing market” doesn’t feel slow at all.
We’re seeing a seasonal squeeze on top of an already tight market. Without serious increases in purpose-built rental stock, these pressures won’t go away.
– Letting industry spokesperson
Where Do We Go From Here?
The honest answer? Probably more of the same, just slower.
Most forecasts I’ve seen suggest rental growth of around 2.5% nationally in 2026 – basically in line with wages, which would be the first proper breather in years. But regional differences will persist. The North East and North West still have room for rents to rise toward the national average, while London might stay flat or even soften further.
The bigger question is whether this rebalancing finally tempts institutional investors back into build-to-rent. Because until someone builds tens of thousands of new rental homes specifically designed for renting (not just accidental landlords), we’re arguing about deckchairs on the Titanic.
For now, if you’re renting or planning to, the rules are simple:
- London is becoming marginally less insane
- The “affordable” North and Midlands are catching up fast
- Earning £45k+ is the new baseline for any kind of independence in most cities
- Sharing remains the reality for huge numbers of working adults
It isn’t the crisis it was in 2023, when rents were rising 10%+ annually pretty much everywhere. But calling this “affordable” would be laughable.
The rental market has calmed down from boiling to a simmer. For millions of tenants, though, it’s still hot enough to burn.
So next time someone tells you the housing crisis is “easing”, ask them which part of the country they live in. Because for an awful lot of Brits earning perfectly respectable wages, the struggle to keep a roof overhead isn’t going anywhere fast.
