Suburban & rural rents jump by 11%, versus just 2% rise in urban areas

Love or Hate Rightmove
  • Increased demand from renters to live further away from cities has led to asking rents in suburban and rural areas jumping by 11% since before the pandemic started, compared to just 2% in urban areas
  • A drop of 45% in available homes to rent in suburban areas and a 61% drop in rural locations means more competition among renters for homes:
    • Demand for each available property is up 155% compared with pre-pandemic levels in suburban areas, and up 224% in rural locations
  • While demand from renters looking in urban locations is also rising (+82%), there are more homes for them to choose from:
    • 64% of all available rental properties on Rightmove are in urban locations, 33% are in suburban areas and 3% are in rural areas
    • This compares with before the pandemic when 48% of all available rental properties were in urban locations, 46% were in suburban areas and 6% were in rural areas

 

New data from the UK’s biggest property website Rightmove reveals that the imbalance of supply and demand for rental properties in suburban and rural areas has led to a jump in 11% in asking rents compared to pre-pandemic levels.

The average asking rent in suburban areas across Great Britain is now £1,041 per calendar month (pcm), up from £940 pcm in February 2020. In rural areas, rents have jumped from £1,141 pcm to £1,264 pcm now. Urban rents are up by just £25 over the same time period, from £1,347 to £1,372 pcm.

A sustained desire from renters for more space outside of cities has led to increased demand for suburban properties, contributing to the number of available homes to rent in the suburbs dropping by 45% compared to before the pandemic, and down 61% in rural areas.

This means more competition amongst tenants for the properties available, with tenant demand per rental property available in the suburbs rising by 155% compared to pre-pandemic levels, and soaring 224% in rural locations.

The analysis of over 300,000 rental listings compares tenant demand and available rental stock across Great Britain in August 2021 with February 2020, to measure the impact of the pandemic on tenant behaviour and rental availability.

Although tenant demand in urban areas is also rising, there are more properties available to choose from.

Of all the available rental properties on Rightmove, 64% of them are now in urban locations, a jump up from 48% pre-pandemic. The proportion of available properties that are in the suburbs has dropped from 46% to 33%, while rural areas have declined from 6% to 3%.

Competition for available rental properties has also increased in urban areas compared to before the pandemic, though significantly less than suburban and rural areas (+82%).

All of this has led to rural and suburban rental properties flying out the door, with the average rental property in rural locations finding a tenant 18 days more quickly than before the pandemic, suburban properties finding a tenant two weeks more quickly, and urban rentals finding a tenant five days faster.

Increase in demand per available rental listing August 2021 vs February 2020 Change in the number of available rental listings August 2021 vs February 2020 Proportion of all available rental stock August 2021 Proportion of all available rental stock February 2020
Rural +224% -61% 3% 6%
Suburban +155% -45% 33% 46%
Urban +82% +2% 64% 48%

 

Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s Director of Property Data comments: “A notable impact of the pandemic on the rental market has been the change in distribution of available properties between urban and suburban areas. While the proportion of homes available to rent in urban and suburban areas remained steady in the years leading up to the pandemic, the data shows a significant change in 2020 as more renters looked to the suburbs. A desire to relocate and move to a home with more space has meant that demand has greatly outstripped supply in these areas and also in rural locations, which in turn is propping up asking rents. Now that more people are returning to offices at least part of the week, we’d expect to see greater demand for urban rentals over the coming months as more people need to be closer to work. However, the scale of change we’ve seen over the course of the pandemic means this shift isn’t going to happen overnight, and it will be interesting to continue to monitor the lasting impacts of the pandemic on demand in the rental market for the rest of the year.”

Rightmove

UK Property news updates shared directly from Rightmove PLC - the country's leading property portal.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

Housing Ombudsman’s report demonstrates necessity of vibrant and growing private rental sector

Following a recent report from the Housing Ombudsman titled ‘Spotlight Report: Repairing Trust’, which revealed that 2024/25 witnessed a 474 per cent surge in complaints about poor living conditions compared to 2019/20, Propertymark has stated that this demonstrates the necessity for a vibrant and growing private rental sector. Referencing the UK Government’s ambition to construct…
Read More
Breaking News

Inheritance Tax Receipts raise £1.5 billion in two months

Inheritance tax receipts hit £1.5 billion in the first two months of the current tax year, according to data released by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) this morning. This is £98 million higher than the previous tax year, and continues an upward trend over the last two decades. Nicholas Hyett, Investment Manager at Wealth Club…
Read More
Breaking News

Propertymark Responds to Boiler Scheme Consultation

Responding to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme and Certification requirements for clean heat schemes consultation (England, Wales and Scotland), Propertymark has stressed the concerns of property agents that landlords are struggling to afford energy efficiency improving measures and warn that the scheme must evolve to protect the availability of…
Read More
bank of england interest rate
Breaking News

Industry Reaction to Bank of England’s decision to hold interest rates at 4.25%

Following a previous cut in May, the rate has today been held at 4.25%. This comes as a result of inflation easing slightly to 3.4% (May 2025), but remaining higher than the Bank of England target rate of 2.0%. The decision to hold the base rate by the Monetary Policy Committee was the result of…
Read More
Breaking News

Rents Climb as High as 17.4%

The latest market analysis by London lettings and estate agent, Benham and Reeves, has found that rents across Britain have surged by as much as 17.4% in some areas since the Labour Government adopted the proposed Renters’ Rights Bill which is likely to become law later this Summer after the Bill enters the House of Lords…
Read More
Breaking News

Breaking Property News 19/06/25

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.   Cloud-based practice management platform launches at Taylor Rose Taylor Rose parent AIIC Group rolls out cloud-based practice management platform AIIC Group (“AIIC”), the legal group behind law firms Taylor Rose, FDR Law and Kingsley Wood, is rolling out a new fully cloud-based practice management…
Read More