Goodlord’s latest rental index shows rents are down 12% month-on-month, a significant drop following record-breaking averages during the summer and early autumn.
The data found that rents in various regions of England fell month-on-month in October, with an average decrease of 12%.
This has brought the average rental cost down to £1,276 from an average of £1,447 in September.
For tenants moving in October, this represents an annual saving of £2,052.
Rentals fell the most in the South West, with prices down 24 per cent.
The South East, Greater London and the East Midlands all saw rents fall by more than 10%.
The North West and West Midlands experienced the smallest changes, with rents falling by around 6%.
Although rents were down significantly quarter-on-quarter, the decline was still in line with expectations and reflected market trends in previous years.
However, rents increased by 3.1% year-on-year, from £1,238 in October 2024 to £1,279 last month.
This is lower than the 4.6% year-on-year rental cost increase recorded in January this year. However, it is significantly higher than the year-on-year figure in September, when rental inflation was 2%.
Annual rent growth is currently most significant in the North West, Greater London and the South East, where rents are up more than 4% compared to October last year.
Renters in the South West and West Midlands were disproportionately affected by rising rents, with year-on-year inflation below 2% in October.
House prices in the East Midlands have even fallen slightly compared to the 2024 average, with properties now costing an average of £4 less per month.
The data also shows that the average number of vacant days increased from 16 days in September to 21 days in October; an increase of 31%.
Vacancy rates increased in all regions except the West Midlands, where the average vacancy rate fell from 24 days to 23 days.
Elsewhere, vacancy times have lengthened by more than 50% in Greater London and the South East. The most significant change was in the Northeast, where the hole duration nearly doubled from 12 to 23 days.
The average number of days vacant across England was slightly shorter in October 2024, at 19 days.
William Reeve, chief executive of Goodlord, commented: “This month’s data is somewhat contradictory. On the one hand, rents have fallen significantly and vacancy rates have extended; this is what we would expect to see at this time of year. But we have also seen some reversal in the year-on-year rental inflation data.”
“These numbers have been decreasing fairly steadily each month from 2025 to the present. However, the small increase from 2% in September to 3% in October may indicate that we are entering the quietest season of the market with slightly higher heat than usual. Year-over-year changes are a metric to watch during the winter.”
