UK average asking rents hit £1,577 per month in August 2026. The North West is up nearly 10% on the year. Available rental stock sits 27% below pre-pandemic levels and shows no sign of recovering. When supply keeps falling and rents keep rising, the income case for buy-to-let does not need a rate cut to work. It needs the right postcode.
What Has Happened?
Rightmove's August 2026 rental market report covers asking rents on properties newly listed for rent across the UK in July and early August. The average asking rent reached £1,577 per month, an all-time high for the series and a 3% increase on August 2025. London's average asking rent stands at £2,699 per month. The North West recorded the steepest annual growth of any UK region at close to 10%, with the regional average now at £1,278 per month.
Available rental stock on Rightmove sits 27% below the equivalent figure in August 2019, before the pandemic reshaped the rental market. That supply deficit has built up over three years of net landlord exits from the private rented sector. Rightmove's survey data attached to the August report found that 33% of landlords are currently considering exiting the market, with the Renters' Rights Act and speculation about potential capital gains tax changes in the autumn Budget cited as the main reasons. Rightmove specifically flags that Budget tax anxiety is compounding the supply shortage by accelerating exit intentions before any measures are confirmed.
The contrast between the Rightmove asking rent figure and the ONS private rent index is worth noting. The ONS bulletin published on 29 July 2026 put average UK private rent at £1,388 per month in June, with annual growth of 3.3%. The gap between £1,388 and £1,577 is methodological: Rightmove measures asking rents on new instructions, while the ONS averages all existing tenancies including long-standing ones where rents have grown more slowly. A landlord re-letting a property today is working with a market asking rent much closer to Rightmove's figure than the ONS stock average suggests.
This is the third consecutive month Rightmove has reported a record for the series. The prior record was set in July 2026. Before that, June 2026. The sequence is slow and consistent rather than dramatic month-to-month, but the direction has not changed.
Why This Matters to UK Property Investors
The national 3% growth figure sounds modest. At this absolute level, though, 3% means something different from 3% in 2020. Three percent of £1,577 per month is £47 per month added per year. On a property purchased at £110,000 with a starting gross yield of 8%, that annual rent increase pushes the yield on original cost to 8.5% at re-let. Compounded over five years of consistent 3% growth, the same property is producing a rent that is 16% higher than at purchase, while the mortgage payment is fixed. That is the quiet arithmetic that makes long-term BTL work at sensible entry prices.
The North West is the more interesting figure for anyone thinking about acquisitions today. Nearly 10% annual asking rent growth, compounded on top of entry prices that start at £70,000 to £120,000 in markets like Oldham, Rochdale, Wigan, and Salford, produces a yield trajectory that is genuinely unusual by UK historical standards. A property purchased in Rochdale OL11 twelve months ago at £95,000 with a starting rent of £650 per month had a gross yield of 8.2%. If the re-let asking rent has tracked the North West average and risen 10%, the same property now attracts a new tenancy at £715 per month. Gross yield on original cost: 9.0%. No change in the purchase price required.
The supply story reinforces the income case rather than undermining it. Available stock at 27% below August 2019 means tenant competition for available properties is structurally elevated. Void periods in high-demand North West markets have compressed over the past two years. A landlord with a well-maintained two-bedroom in a core postcode around Manchester, Liverpool, or Preston is filling tenancies faster than three years ago. Fewer voids are a direct income improvement that does not show up in asking rent data.
London at £2,699 per month average asking rent, growing more slowly than northern regions, on top of entry prices that produce gross yields of 4% to 4.5% in most inner London boroughs, remains the weakest yield case in England. Rightmove's August data confirms the rent gap between North and South is widening, not narrowing. The income arithmetic for London BTL at current mortgage rates between 4.4% and 5.6% depending on product is uncomfortable. In most northern markets above 7.5% gross yield, it is comfortable.
The Risks Investors Need to Understand
The 3% national asking rent growth is decelerating from the peaks the market saw in 2022 and 2023. Annual asking rent growth ran at around 12% in 2022 and 8% in 2023. The current 3% reflects a market that has absorbed a significant rent level adjustment and is now growing at a pace more consistent with wage growth and affordability limits. A BTL financial model that assumes 6% or 8% annual rent growth nationally over the next five years is working with outdated assumptions. The correct base case is 3% to 4% nationally, with northern regions likely running above that given their structural supply constraints.
The 33% of landlords considering exiting is a mixed signal, not pure opportunity. On one hand, motivated sellers create acquisition chances at realistic prices. On the other, a proportion of those sellers will be exiting properties with deferred EPC compliance, outstanding licensing obligations, or sitting tenants whose rights transfer with the sale. Ex-rental stock requires a different level of due diligence than vacant-possession property. Checking EPC ratings against lender requirements, verifying any selective or additional licensing obligations in the postcode, and understanding the tenancy terms before exchange is more important when buying from an exiting landlord than when buying a property new to investment.
The Budget tax uncertainty that Rightmove flags is real even though the specific measures are not confirmed. If capital gains tax rates for residential property are aligned more closely with income tax rates, the cost of selling for landlords with large unrealised gains rises sharply. That changes the exit decision for some: landlords who planned to sell and take the gain may hold instead. That has a counterintuitive effect on supply; the 33% who say they are considering exiting may find the exit more expensive than they anticipated once the Budget lands in October. The supply story depends partly on what that Budget actually contains.
One other thing worth saying clearly: Rightmove's asking rent is not the same as Rightmove's achieved rent. Particularly in markets where tenant affordability is constrained, the gap between asking and agreed can run at 3% to 5% below the listed figure. The £1,577 national average will not be achieved in every market at every property type. Due diligence on comparable achieved rents in a specific postcode is always more reliable than a national average when underwriting a specific acquisition.
Where the Opportunity Could Be
The North West data points to specific acquisition cases. Manchester M14 and M20 (Fallowfield and Didsbury) are established professional-rental markets where asking rents on two-bedroom flats run at £1,100 to £1,350 per month. Entry prices on comparable properties sit at £170,000 to £220,000. That bracket produces gross yields from 6.6% to 9.5%, with the higher end achievable at the M14 and Salford M6 boundary. Those yields clear the ICR stress test at current mortgage rates of 4.4% to 5.6%.
Further out from Manchester city centre, the numbers get sharper. Oldham OL1 and OL8, Rochdale OL11 and OL12, and Wigan WN1 offer entry prices of £70,000 to £110,000 on two-bedroom terraced houses renting at £600 to £750 per month. Gross yields from 8.5% to 12.5% depending on specific street and condition. On a 75% LTV BTL mortgage at 4.44% (The Mortgage Works five-year fix, the sharpest specialist lender rate as of this week), a £95,000 property with rent at £700 per month carries annual interest of £3,163 against annual rent of £8,400. Interest cover ratio: 265%. That clears every lender threshold I know of, with significant room to absorb a September base rate rise if the MPC delivers one on September 17.
Liverpool adds another dimension. L6 and L7 (Wavertree and Kensington) have asking rents on two-bedroom properties at £700 to £800 per month on entry prices of £75,000 to £120,000. Liverpool has a large NHS and university tenant base that holds demand steady throughout the year. The North West 10% annual growth figure aggregates Liverpool into the regional average, which means Liverpool's own growth is contributing to that number and the evidence in those postcodes is not just anecdotal.
The supply constraint at 27% below August 2019 levels has a specific implication for HMO investment. If single-let stock is down 27%, the room rental market is at least as constrained. SpareRoom data published earlier this week showed flat-share adverts down 3.2% year-on-year nationally and down 5% in inner London. For investors considering HMO conversion in North West markets where supply is tightest, the demand case is unusually clear. Manchester, Salford, and Oldham all have active room-rental markets with waiting lists at well-run HMOs. The licensing requirement under Westminster's mandatory and additional HMO schemes applies nationally, so due diligence on local licensing requirements still applies wherever you are buying.
Arsh's Investor View
The £1,577 national average is the number in the headline. The one I am paying attention to is the North West at 10%. That is three times the national average growth rate, in a region where you can still buy a two-bedroom terrace for £80,000 to £100,000. I have been buying in Rochdale, Oldham, and around Manchester for 15 years. Properties I would have passed on in 2018 at 7% gross yield are now producing 9% to 10% on original cost after three years of above-average rent growth, with no change in the purchase price. That is the compounding effect people underestimate when they look at 10% annual growth in a market with low absolute entry prices.
The 33% exit intention figure is one I take seriously, but not in the way it is usually presented. Exit intentions and actual exits are not the same thing. When the Budget lands in October and landlords see what CGT changes, if any, actually look like, a proportion of that 33% will decide holding makes more sense than selling into an uncertain tax environment. The supply shortage may not be as bad as a literal reading of "33% considering exit" implies. Or it may be worse if CGT rates stay low and exits accelerate. I genuinely do not know which way this goes, and I would be suspicious of anyone who tells you they do with confidence.
What I am more confident about is the supply-demand picture in the specific northern markets I have been describing for the past two years. In Oldham and Rochdale, there is no institutional rental supply arriving. No build-to-rent blocks, no large-scale social housing going into the PRS, no significant new construction targeting private tenants at those rent levels. The landlords who are already there have pricing power. The landlords who buy in over the next 12 months, at a point when motivated sellers are a real feature of the market, will buy into that same supply position. That is the argument I keep making, not because I want to be a northern evangelist, but because the data keeps supporting it.
One small caveat. I am looking at Rightmove asking rents, not achieved rents. The £1,577 national average and the North West regional figure are asking prices, and asking prices get negotiated. In a market where tenant demand is strong, the discount from asking to agreed is smaller than in a soft market. But it exists. Always underwrite on achieved comparables, not on Rightmove headlines.
How Property Investor App Can Help
Property Investor App gives investors direct visibility into live BTL opportunities in the North West markets that Rightmove's August 2026 data highlights, including Manchester M14 and M20, Salford M6, Oldham OL1 and OL8, Rochdale OL11 and OL12, Wigan WN1, and Liverpool L6 and L7. For investors who want to see actual deal data in those postcodes before any commitment, PIA provides deal-level yield estimates, current asking rents for comparable properties, and property condition information alongside direct access to local agents and sourcers who know which specific streets are producing the numbers. For landlords thinking about HMO conversion in supply-constrained northern markets, PIA connects with specialists who understand local HMO licensing requirements, ICR calculations across the specialist lender panel, and the due diligence steps that matter most when buying ex-rental stock from an exiting landlord. Browse live UK buy-to-let investment opportunities at Property Investor App.
Key Takeaways
- Rightmove's August 2026 rental market report puts the average UK asking rent at £1,577 per month, the highest figure the company has ever published and a 3% increase on August 2025. The North West is the fastest-growing region at close to 10% annual growth, with average North West asking rents now at £1,278 per month. London sits at £2,699 per month. The Rightmove asking rent series covers new-let instructions and runs ahead of the ONS stock average (£1,388 per month in June 2026) because it captures market pricing rather than the average of all existing tenancies.
- Available UK rental stock sits 27% below the pre-pandemic level of August 2019. The deficit has built through net landlord exits from the private rented sector over three years. Build-to-rent completions have partially offset losses in major cities, but markets in the North West outside Manchester city centre (Oldham, Rochdale, Wigan, Salford) have no active institutional rental pipeline. Existing BTL landlords in those markets retain meaningful pricing power on rents.
- North West asking rent growth of close to 10% year-on-year, compounding on entry prices of £70,000 to £110,000 in markets like Oldham OL1, Rochdale OL11, and Wigan WN1, is improving gross yields on existing acquisitions at pace. A property bought in Rochdale at £95,000 with rent of £650 per month (8.2% gross yield) twelve months ago would now attract a re-let asking rent of approximately £715 per month, pushing the gross yield on original cost to 9.0%. No change in purchase price required.
- 33% of landlords told Rightmove they are considering exiting the market, citing the Renters' Rights Act and potential autumn Budget capital gains tax changes as primary reasons. Exit intentions do not always translate into actual sales. If CGT rates for residential property rise materially in the October Budget, some landlords with large unrealised gains will hold rather than pay a higher exit cost. The net supply effect of the 33% figure depends on what the Budget actually announces.
- National asking rent growth of 3% is decelerating from the peaks of 2022 (around 12%) and 2023 (around 8%). The appropriate base case for BTL financial modelling is 3% to 4% annually for the national average, with the North West, North East, and Yorkshire likely running above that given structural supply constraints. Models assuming 6% or more nationally are not supported by current data.
- On a 75% LTV BTL mortgage at 4.44% (The Mortgage Works five-year fixed rate as of late July 2026), a £95,000 Rochdale property renting at £700 per month carries annual interest of £3,163 against annual rent of £8,400. Interest cover ratio: 265%. That figure holds comfortably above the typical lender ICR floor of 125% even if the base rate rises to 4.0% on September 17 and tracker rates adjust accordingly.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average UK asking rent in August 2026 according to Rightmove?
Rightmove's August 2026 rental market report puts the average UK asking rent at £1,577 per month, the highest figure in the history of the series and a 3% increase on August 2025. This figure covers asking rents on properties newly listed for rent and runs ahead of the ONS private rent index, which showed an average UK private rent of £1,388 per month in June 2026. The difference is methodological: Rightmove tracks new-let asking prices, while the ONS averages all existing tenancies including long-standing ones where rents have risen more slowly than the current market. A landlord re-letting a property today will find the Rightmove figure more relevant to their achievable rent than the ONS stock average.
Why is the North West showing the strongest rental growth in August 2026?
The North West's close to 10% annual asking rent growth reflects a combination of constrained supply and sustained tenant demand in a region that has no significant build-to-rent pipeline outside Manchester city centre. Markets like Oldham, Rochdale, Wigan, Salford, and Liverpool have seen net landlord exits over the past two years driven by the Renters' Rights Act compliance costs and rate pressures. Unlike London and the major southern cities, those markets have not received institutional rental supply to offset the losses. Existing BTL landlords in the North West therefore face less competition from new stock than their counterparts in London or Birmingham, which gives them pricing power that shows up directly in the asking rent data.
How does the 27% rental stock shortfall affect BTL investors?
Available rental stock sitting 27% below August 2019 levels means tenant competition for available properties is structurally elevated. In practical terms, this compresses void periods, makes tenant selection easier for landlords with well-maintained stock, and sustains upward pressure on rents when properties come to market. The risk is that if the 33% of landlords currently considering exit do act at scale, the ex-rental stock entering the sales market could create acquisition opportunities but does not directly add to rental supply unless bought by incoming investors who re-let. Whether those properties are absorbed by owner-occupiers or investors is what determines the net effect on the rental supply shortfall.
Is London still worth buying for buy-to-let in August 2026?
London's average asking rent of £2,699 per month is the highest in absolute terms but is growing more slowly than northern regions, likely at 2% to 3% year-on-year based on the ONS June data showing London at 2.2% annual growth, the weakest rate in England. London entry prices produce gross yields of 4% to 4.5% on typical inner and mid-London properties. At current BTL fixed mortgage rates of 4.4% to 5.6% depending on product and LTV, the income margin in London BTL is thin and in some cases negative before voids and costs. For investors whose primary objective is yield rather than capital appreciation, Rightmove's August data confirms that the North West and North East offer a fundamentally stronger income case at current price and rent levels.
Should I be worried that 33% of landlords are considering selling?
Exit intentions and actual exits are different things. Rightmove's survey captures sentiment at a specific point in time, and regulatory uncertainty tends to generate elevated exit intention responses that partially normalise once specific measures become clearer. If the October 2026 Budget introduces material CGT rate changes for residential property, some landlords with significant unrealised gains will find the exit more expensive than anticipated and hold instead. For active buyers, the 33% figure is useful context: motivated sellers from that pool create genuine acquisition opportunities, and properties coming to market from exiting landlords can sometimes be bought at a discount to full market value when the seller prioritises speed. The caveat is due diligence: ex-rental stock needs EPC assessment, a check for outstanding licensing obligations, and confirmation of any sitting tenancy terms before exchange.
