Landlord Market Report: September 2026
More homes for sale than in 12 years. Mortgage rates back above 5%. Rents still rising almost everywhere, except Brighton. Here's what changed this month for landlords, from official figures only, free to read and share.
This month at a glance
Sources: ONS (rents), Rightmove (asking prices, mortgage rate and homes for sale).
1. House prices and sales: stuck, not crashing
Rightmove's September index puts the average asking price at £367,440, 0.8% lower than a year ago. More homes are for sale than at any point in 12 years for the time of year, while buyer demand is 9% lower than last September. The average two-year fixed mortgage rate has risen to 5.29%, from 4.25% before the war in Iran started, adding around £180 a month to a typical new mortgage.
Where you own matters more than ever. In Scotland, 91% of homes for sale are finding a buyer. In the South East it's 56%, and in London only 42%.
2. Rents, house prices and yields in every area we cover
The ONS puts the average UK private rent at £1,400 in August 2026, up 3.8% on a year earlier. Rents rose in every area we cover except Brighton and Hove, where they fell 1.2%. Newcastle rose fastest, up 9.3%.
House prices tell a different story. The UK House Price Index puts the average UK price at £272,611 in July 2026, up 1.4% on a year earlier. Put rents and prices side by side and Newcastle, Manchester and Bristol give landlords the highest gross yields of the areas we cover, while Essex, Chester and Canterbury give the lowest.
| Area | Average rent | Rent change | Average house price | Price change | Gross yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brighton and Hove | £1,808 | -1.2% | £408,948 | -1.1% | 5.3% |
| London (also West London) | £2,332 | +3.5% | £550,037 | -3.3% | 5.1% |
| Manchester | £1,373 | +4.2% | £252,309 | +1.2% | 6.5% |
| Bristol | £1,883 | +5.9% | £352,262 | +2.1% | 6.4% |
| Bath | £1,885 | +7.4% | £409,045 | -0.7% | 5.5% |
| Edinburgh | £1,415 | +1.6% | £303,965 | +4.0% | 5.6% |
| York | £1,199 | +6.5% | £310,781 | +1.8% | 4.6% |
| Liverpool | £913 | +5.6% | £189,036 | +8.1% | 5.8% |
| Oxford | £1,963 | +3.5% | £471,667 | -2.3% | 5.0% |
| Birmingham | £1,099 | +3.0% | £234,257 | +2.5% | 5.6% |
| Canterbury | £1,280 | +5.4% | £337,454 | +2.9% | 4.6% |
| Chester (Cheshire West) | £991 | +6.1% | £270,104 | +5.8% | 4.4% |
| Newcastle | £1,215 | +9.3% | £207,547 | +4.1% | 7.0% |
| Reading | £1,574 | +1.4% | £349,550 | -1.2% | 5.4% |
| Sheffield | £931 | +4.3% | £219,713 | +2.8% | 5.1% |
| Slough | £1,565 | +2.2% | £335,759 | -1.8% | 5.6% |
| Essex (average of 14 areas) | £1,356 | +3.7% | £376,896 | 0.0% | 4.3% |
Sources: rents from the ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026); house prices from the UK House Price Index, HM Land Registry and ONS (July 2026). Changes are over the year. Gross yield is our calculation: a year's average rent as a percentage of the average house price, before any costs, tax or empty periods. Edinburgh uses the ONS rent for the wider Lothian area and the house price for the City of Edinburgh, as the ONS doesn't publish both for the same area. Chester uses Cheshire West and Chester. The ONS doesn't publish one figure for Essex, so the Essex row is our simple average of its 14 council areas, each counted equally.
3. Landlords: tax and law
- Tax: from April 2027, income tax rates on property income rise by two percentage points, according to the NRLA.
- The Renters' Rights Act: in force since 1 May 2026. Under the transition rules explained by the NRLA, notices served before 1 May stayed valid only if court proceedings began before 31 July 2026.
- Possession: in the NRLA's latest quarterly survey, one in four landlords had served a possession notice in the past year. Rent arrears were the most common reason, followed by selling because of the Renters' Rights Act.
- Selling: government survey figures reported by the NRLA show 31% of landlords plan to sell homes. Landlord buyers paid an average of 88.7% of the initial asking price, according to Hamptons data reported by the NRLA.
4. What it means if you own a rental
- Selling is slower and cheaper than it was. With stock at a 12-year high and landlord buyers paying below asking, price realistically or wait.
- Letting still pays in most cities, with rents rising everywhere we cover except Brighton. The tax rise in April 2027 will take a bigger share, so check your numbers now.
- Brighton landlords face a squeeze from both sides: the ONS shows flat prices down 3.1% and rents down 1.2% over the year.
- There are other options. Short and medium-term lets follow visitor, event and business demand rather than the sales market. See what they earn in your city in our market guides.
This report is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Figures are the latest published at the time of writing (30 September 2026) and may be revised by their publishers.
Sources
- HM Land Registry and ONS: UK House Price Index (July 2026 figures)
- ONS: Price Index of Private Rents, UK, monthly price statistics (August 2026 figures)
- ONS: Housing prices in Brighton and Hove (updated 16 September 2026)
- Rightmove House Price Index, 21 September 2026
- NRLA: Selling a rental in 2026 (September 2026)
- NRLA: Landlord Eye, Quarter 1 2026
- NRLA: Record numbers of landlords selling homes
- NRLA: Tax hike to hit renters in the pocket
- NRLA: How landlords are preparing for the Renters' Rights Act