ONS figures show average UK house prices grew 2.0 per cent to £272,000 in the year to June 2026, while private rents rose 3.7 per cent to around £1,393 per month by July — outpacing property price growth for the third consecutive quarter.
The gap between rent inflation and house price inflation is widening. The Office for National Statistics figures show average UK private rents growing at 3.7 per cent annually by July 2026, compared with house price growth of just 2.0 per cent in the year to June 2026. That’s a reversal of the pattern many households have come to expect — and it matters most to the roughly one-in-five Kent households who rent privately.
Aimee North, Head of Housing Market Indices at the ONS, said the sharp 3.8 per cent spike in annual house price growth recorded in April 2026 — when average prices hit £270,000 — was largely a base effect. Prices fell sharply in April 2025 after stamp duty changes in England and Northern Ireland prompted buyers to cluster transactions before the deadline, leaving an unusually low comparison point a year later. By May 2026 annual growth had already dropped back to 3.0 per cent, and by June to 2.0 per cent, as that distortion faded.
London is dragging the national average down. North’s commentary repeatedly flags the capital as the region with the lowest annual house price inflation, with multiple months of outright annual falls recorded. The South East — which includes Kent — has similarly seen house price growth running below most northern and midland regions, meaning property values here are rising more slowly than in much of the rest of England.
For renters, the picture is less comfortable. Average UK private rents reached around £1,393 per month in the year to July 2026, up from roughly £1,383–£1,388 per month in May and June. The 3.7 per cent annual rate in July accelerated from 3.3 per cent in June, driven partly by the strongest annual rent growth London has seen for almost a year. The South East had, in some recent months, recorded the lowest rental inflation of any English region — but national rent growth is still running ahead of house price growth, squeezing affordability for those who cannot buy.
Independent analysts responding to ONS posts have called for city-level and income-level breakdowns, arguing that national averages can mask local pressures. That point has particular weight in Kent, where district-level markets — from Canterbury to Thanet — can behave quite differently from the regional headline. Councils including Kent County Council, Medway Council and Ashford Borough Council use ONS housing data to shape local planning and affordable housing strategies.
Slower house price growth cuts both ways. First-time buyers face a marginally less steep climb onto the property ladder, but existing owners accumulate equity more slowly. And with rents still rising faster than prices, households unable to buy face a sustained squeeze on budgets — even in a region where rent inflation is cooling relative to London.
Source: @ONS