On average across London, Manchester and Birmingham, the monthly cost of renting within an inner city area is £1,152 versus £908 per month in the outer city market, a difference of 27% or £244 per month.
London was home to the biggest difference, with rents across the inner city rental market coming in 37% higher on average, with a 26% difference in Manchester and a 9% difference in Birmingham.
However, on average across all three cities, annual rental growth across outer city areas has remained largely flat, while across inner city rental areas it has fallen by 4.4% in the last 12 months.
Manchester has seen the strongest performance, with inner city rental values remaining largely unchanged in the last year, while across the city’s outer rental market values have climbed by 3.7%.
In Birmingham, outer city rental values are up 2.2% versus a marginal 0.3% uplift across the inner city.
And in London, there has been a 1.1% increase in rental values across outer city areas and a 7.8% drop across the capital’s inner city areas.
Daniel Jackson, sales director at Sequre Property Investment, said: “It’s clear inner city rental markets are still struggling due to the decline in demand caused by the pandemic, despite a gradual return to normality from a social standpoint and with regard to the workplace.
“This is particularly evident across the London market, where rental values have plummeted across inner city areas, while they’ve also struggled in outer city areas.
“The good news is that elsewhere, outer city rental values are on the up, with both Manchester and Birmingham seeing very healthy levels of growth.
“This suggests that tenants are now starting to make their return and this is a trend that should soon reach our city centres and help boost values across inner city rental markets.”
