Source: Kevin Peachey, cost of living correspondent, BBC News, “Rent rises set to speed up in gloomy forecast for tenants”, published 13 September 2026, reporting new analysis from property website Zoopla. The rent levels in the worked example below are from the Office for National Statistics’ Private rent and house prices, UK bulletin, and the renter protections are from the government’s own guide to the Renters’ Rights Act.
Our view
Our view: the law on rent rises matters more than the forecast. England’s Renters’ Rights Act came into force in May 2026 and changed how and when a landlord can raise your rent: a formal notice, at least two months’ warning, and a free tribunal that cannot set the rent higher than the landlord asked.
What happened this week
Zoopla’s data shows average rents on new tenancies were up 2.6% in the year to July 2026 — below general inflation, and down from a recent peak, having fallen to a low of 1.6% in February. But the company now forecasts that pace accelerating to 4% or 5% by the end of the year, which it says would roughly track average earnings growth. The reason is supply: the number of homes available to rent is down 3% on a year ago, and each listing is now attracting more than five enquiries on average — the most intense competition in nearly two years, though still well short of the queues seen straight after the pandemic.
Richard Donnell, Zoopla’s executive director, said: “Our latest report shows how sensitive the rental market is to even modest changes in how many homes are available for rent.” Nathan Emerson, chief executive of lettings body Propertymark, said the report “underlined the need for more high-quality rental homes” and that increasing supply “must remain a priority if we are to give tenants greater choice, improve affordability and create a more stable rental market.” Demand was particularly intense in London, the report found, and the squeeze is not uniform — in cheaper areas renters have more room to absorb an increase before hitting an affordability ceiling, while in the most expensive areas rents are already close to what renters can stretch to, which itself limits how far they can rise further.
What a rise costs
Zoopla’s 2.6%/4-5% figures track new tenancies specifically. The official measure of the whole rental market — new and existing tenancies together — is the ONS’s Price Index of Private Rents, and its most recent release already shows the acceleration Zoopla is forecasting: UK average rent inflation was 3.7% in the 12 months to July 2026, up from 3.3% in June — the highest annual rate since December 2025.
Real published figures, illustrative household. The ONS puts the average monthly private rent in England at £1,451 in the 12 months to July 2026, up 3.8% on the year.
- A rise in line with Zoopla’s 4% forecast: +£58.04 a month, or £696.48 a year.
- A rise in line with Zoopla’s 5% forecast: +£72.55 a month, or £870.60 a year.
For context, the UK average rent is £1,393 a month (+3.7%); Wales averages £843 (+4.5%); Scotland averages £1,016 (+1.7%, the slowest of the four nations); and Northern Ireland averages £875 (+2.3%, on slightly older data to May 2026). A 5% rise is £42 a month in Wales and £51 a month in Scotland, against £73 in England.
In the 12 months to July 2026, the North East had the fastest rent inflation in the country at 6.3%, while the South East had the slowest at 2.9% — more than double, on the same national forecast. Check your own region’s figure: the ONS publishes a private rent and house prices bulletin, with figures by region and local authority.
Your rights on a rent rise
The Renters’ Rights Act, in force in England since May 2026, is the biggest change to the sector in more than 30 years, and three parts of it matter directly to anyone facing a rent rise this year. First, a landlord can only raise your rent to market rate using a formal ‘section 13’ notice, giving at least two months’ warning before it takes effect — a text message or a verbal request doesn’t count, and until a proper notice arrives, your existing rent stands. Second, if you think the new figure is above market rate, you can refer it to the First-tier Tribunal free of charge, and under the reformed rules the Tribunal can never set your rent higher than what your landlord originally asked. Third, rental bidding wars are now illegal: landlords and agents cannot ask for, or accept, offers above the advertised asking rent.
What to do this week
- Check your area’s rent figure. Look up your region on the ONS local housing statistics tool and compare it with what you currently pay. If a rise is coming, work out the 4% and 5% figures on your own rent — the worked example above shows how — and build that gap into your budget now, using our budgeting guide or the survival budget calculator.
- Know the section 13 rules before any notice arrives. A valid rise needs a formal written notice and at least two months’ warning. If one arrives that looks steep against comparable local properties, you can refer it to the First-tier Tribunal for free, and the tribunal cannot set a figure higher than what was asked.
If money is already tight before any rise lands, our guide to cutting bills without cutting your life covers other household costs. Landlords and mortgage lenders both check your credit report.
What is still uncertain, and when we will know
Zoopla’s 4% to 5% is a forecast range. Two dates to watch:
- 16 September 2026 — the ONS publishes its next Price Index of Private Rents release, the first official update since the 3.7% figure reported here.
- Ongoing through autumn 2026 — Zoopla has said it will keep tracking new-tenancy rents monthly as the Renters’ Rights Act beds in; whether landlord supply recovers, or stays 3% down on last year, will affect which end of the 4-5% range renters see.
Where coaching ends and advice begins. Knowing your realistic rent number, budgeting for a rise before it lands, and understanding your section 13 and Tribunal rights — that is coaching, and it is all above. Negotiating a specific tenancy dispute, or a decision to leave a home you cannot afford can have legal consequences, and that is where a specialist steps in: Shelter and Citizens Advice give free, independent tenancy advice, and your local council has a legal duty to help prevent homelessness if it comes to that. Buzz Money Coach is a trading style of Buzz Accounting Ltd, which is not authorised by the FCA to give regulated financial advice and does not give it. If the pressure is wider than rent, see money worries: MoneyHelper, StepChange and National Debtline give free, independent help today.