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DPS Rent Index highlights slowing North East rental market

The average rent of North East properties has increased by £4.05, or 0.76%, over the last year, according to new research from the Deposit Protection Service (DPS).

Published for the first time today, the DPS Rent Index is based on the UK’s largest deposit protection provider’s database of rent levels across the UK over the last ten years.

According to its figures, average rent in the North East increased to £537.79 between the third quarters of 2016 and 2017. While rental prices are indeed going up, the rise pales in comparison to what’s happening in the country at large.

Nationally, average UK rent increased by £11.55 or 1.51% between the third quarters of 2016 and 2017.

Julian Foster, Managing Director at The DPS, explained: “Figures suggest that the rental market has slowed in the North East since the third quarter of 2016, and letting agents, landlords and tenants will be keen to see whether this trend continues over the next year.

“This post-Brexit vote increase is the smallest witnessed since 2009 and comes after three years of particularly high growth, suggesting the influence of other macroeconomic factors such as housing, employment and inflation.

“While we are still some distance from seeing the roughly 3% national fall that came with the last Financial Crisis, the change over the last year identified by the Index represents a significant shift for the market.”

According to The DPS over the last decade, average rent in the North East has increased by £56.54 (11.75%).

Average rent in the North East is the lowest in England, only Northern Ireland has lower average rent in the whole of the UK. Average rent in the region is £237.34 (30.62%) less than the UK average.

Rent in the region remains the smallest as a proportion of local salary of any UK region, with the average representing 25.11% of median wage after decreasing as a proportion of average wage (by a small amount of 0.15%).

The Index was developed by Professor of Global Economy, Joe Nellis, who was jointly responsible for the research and development of the UK’s leading house price measurement systems, the Halifax and the Nationwide House Price Indexes, and Catarina Figueira, Professor of Applied Economics and Policy, both of Cranfield School of Management.

Nellis said: “The DPS Rent Index should be viewed as an important indicator in understanding trends within the UK economy, and is particularly useful in analysing the property, housing and private rented sectors.

“Based on a unique, massive and hitherto untapped pool of data and applying a thorough academic methodology, the index should be regarded as an invaluable source of information on rent prices and trends across the UK.”

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