Daily Times

The average rent for a property in London has spiked to a record high, exceeding £2,500 (over $3,140) a month in the first quarter of this year, according to data from property website Rightmove.

The average monthly rent for a property outside the capital increased by 9.4% to £1,190 during the same period. The number of properties available for rent in the market is 46% lower than in 2019, the data showed.

Despite some signs of easing in the property sector this year, there is still a lack of options due to high demand and insufficient supply, said Tim Bannister, director of Rightmove. He said rent hikes are expected to continue in the future due to the imbalance between supply and demand, with many estate agents getting a high number of rental requests for a single property. Britain’s economy failed to grow as expected in February, but a bounce in January was stronger than first thought, official data showed on Saturday.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the economic output was flat in month-on-month terms in February. A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to a growth of 0.1%. The ONS revised January’s economic growth up to 0.4% from a previous estimate of 0.3%.

Output from the vast services sector contracted by 0.1% in February, hurt by strikes, but was offset by a surge in construction output, the ONS said.