News from 16 April 2026
Average advertised rents outside London remained at £1,370 a month in the first quarter of 2026, according to Rightmove. Annual growth was 1.6%. The tracker also showed fewer enquiries per listing than a year earlier.
Why the market has cooled a little
The obvious explanation is affordability. Rightmove says more homes are available to rent than a year ago, while tenant competition has eased. The average rental listing is now getting eight enquiries rather than 11 a year earlier. At the same time, 26% of rental listings are seeing a price reduction while being marketed, the highest share Rightmove has recorded since it started tracking that measure in 2012.
The findings suggest tenants have more choice than during the tightest part of the market. During the tightest part of the supply crunch, many homes could attract heavy interest even if the asking rent was ambitious. In a more balanced market, the initial price, presentation and management standard all matter more.
There is a wider pattern here too. Zoopla’s latest rental market reporting for early 2026 points to slower rent growth, weaker demand and a modest improvement in supply, rather than a dramatic rebound in available stock. In other words, the pressure has eased, but the structural shortage has not disappeared.
What landlords should read into the flat quarter
Flat quarterly growth outside London is not the same thing as falling rents across the board. Rightmove’s own longer-term tracker still shows a market operating above pre-pandemic norms, and London rents themselves edged higher in Q1 even if they remained below the peak reached in Q3 2025. The more useful reading for landlords is that local markets may now punish over-pricing faster than they did a year or two ago.
That can affect day-to-day decisions. If a property becomes vacant, landlords may need to think more carefully about the asking rent from day one rather than assuming a later reduction will do no harm. A longer marketing period can quickly eat into headline gains. This is especially relevant with the Renters’ Rights timetable moving closer, because avoiding unnecessary voids and getting tenancy paperwork right are both becoming more important.
There is also a supply angle. Rightmove says there has been no obvious rush of landlords flooding the market with new stock ahead of the legislative changes due on 1 May, with new rental listings in March down 6% year on year. Here4 Landlords has already looked at how the wider housing supply picture can shape rental conditions, and this latest data fits that theme. Supply may have improved a little, but it still does not look abundant.
