The cost of rent as a proportion of earnings has reached its highest level in a decade. This is according to the latest Zoopla Rental Market Report.

For the last 21 months, UK rents have been growing faster than earnings and now account for 28.3% of average pre-tax earnings vs a 10-year average of 27%

While renting in London is the most expensive of all regions (averaging 40% of gross earnings), it is still below the peak of 43% reached in September 2015

Rental affordability is currently at its worst for a decade in seven of the 12 regions of the UK.

At a city level, rental growth is highest in Edinburgh (13.7%), followed by Manchester (13%), Glasgow (12.3%) and Southampton (10.7%).

Zoopla anticipates rental growth to slow towards 8% by the end of the year which will still be above earnings growth.

According to the report, rents will only decrease if there is a significant increase in supply, or a drop in demand and this is unlikely as we enter the busiest time of the year for lettings (between July and September). At the same time, higher mortgage rates are impacting the number of first-time buyers entering the sales market.

The level of homes for rent remains stuck 20-40% below pre-pandemic levels in most regions – creating further competition between renters and adding extra impetus to rental growth

The impact of higher mortgage rates on the sales market will take a few months to feed through and would require mortgage rates to remain elevated at over 5.5% for much of the summer.

This would deliver some support for rental supply in the second half of the year, but not enough to close the gap to pre-pandemic levels.

Zoopla’s sales data continues to show a steady, constant flow of private landlords selling up – although this has been the case since 2018 and the trend is not accelerating.

Due to continued new investment in rented homes through mainly corporate landlords and institutional investors – there has been no change in the number of privately rented homes since 2016.

Currently, 1 in 10 homes for sale on Zoopla are formerly rented out, however, the 20 – 30% of landlords with mortgages are being impacted by higher borrowing costs.

These pressures are particularly concentrated in London and the South East which accounts for half (51%) of landlord sales nationally.

Zoopla executive director Richard Donnell says renters continue to face a relentless increase in rents, compounding wider cost of living pressures and making home moving decisions ever more challenging, especially for singles and those on lower incomes.

“The chronic imbalance between supply and demand continues to push rents higher but we expect increasingly stretched affordability will start to reduce the pace of rental growth into 2024.

“While there is concern over the impact of higher mortgage rates on those with mortgages, renters have already seen a £2,820 a year increase in rental costs over the last five years. Some renters are experiencing more stress from higher rents with a jump in those finding the rent difficult to pay.

He concludes: “A proportion of landlords continue to sell but talk of an exodus is overstated. The real pressure of higher mortgage rates on landlords hits the 20-30% with the highest loan to value mortgages where landlords may need to inject extra capital when they refinance or look to sell.

“Half of all landlord sales are in London and the South East where yields are lowest and the economics of being a landlord are toughest.”