- Bath Tops Ranking of UK Cities Where Rents Rising Rents Strengthen the Case for Buying
Bath has been ranked as the UK city where renters have the strongest incentive to consider buying a home, as rising rents collide with stagnant or falling property prices across parts of the country.
Research by Trade Door Handles placed Bath and North East Somerset at the top of its ranking after the area recorded a 7.84-percentage-point gap between annual rental growth and house-price movements.
Average monthly rent in the area has reached £1,882, while the average home costs approximately £404,480. Annual rent is estimated to consume almost 70 per cent of typical gross local earnings.
The study examined rental and house-price movements across more than 300 UK local authorities, using data from the Office for National Statistics and HM Land Registry. Areas were ranked according to the difference between rising rents and declining or stagnant property prices.
The widening gap creates an apparent opportunity for households that have accumulated sufficient savings for a deposit. But the findings also reveal a deeper affordability problem: buying may be becoming relatively more attractive than renting without necessarily becoming affordable in absolute terms.
In Bath, for example, the average house price remains approximately 12.5 times local annual earnings. That presents a formidable barrier for first-time buyers, even where property prices have stopped increasing.
The research found that rents in Bath rose by almost 8 per cent over the year while house prices remained broadly unchanged.
For tenants already paying £1,882 a month, continued rent increases could strengthen the financial case for purchasing. Yet high deposit requirements, mortgage affordability tests and borrowing costs may prevent many households from acting on that calculation.
Tunbridge Wells placed second with a 7.51-percentage-point difference between rental and house-price movements.
Rents increased by about 4.5 per cent while house prices declined by approximately 3 per cent. Average monthly rent now stands at £1,521, compared with an average property price of £445,130.
Oxford ranked third. Its average monthly rent of £1,961 represents about 64 per cent of a typical local salary, according to the study.
Rents rose by almost 6 per cent, while house prices declined by approximately 0.9 per cent to an average £466,820. The result was a 6.77-percentage-point gap between the two markets.
Oxford illustrates how persistent demand can push rents higher even as the housing-sales market weakens. Demand from students, professionals and university-linked institutions supports the rental sector, while high borrowing costs and already stretched valuations constrain potential buyers.
The city may therefore offer an opportunity to purchasers with substantial deposits, including property investors. But describing it as an accessible route into homeownership would overlook the continuing difficulty posed by an average price approaching £467,000.
Lincoln ranked fourth but may present the most practical opportunity for first-time buyers because of its considerably lower house prices.
The average home in the city costs £183,300, the lowest among the leading locations in the study, while average monthly rent stands at £948.
Rental prices increased by more than 6 per cent during the year as house prices edged lower, producing a gap of 6.64 percentage points. Rent accounts for approximately 38 per cent of typical local earnings.
Although salaries are lower than in southern English cities, Lincoln’s entry price makes the transition from renting to ownership more achievable for households able to obtain a mortgage.
Salford completed the top five, with rents increasing by almost 4 per cent and house prices falling by about 2.4 per cent.
The average monthly rent in Salford has reached £1,164, while the typical property is valued at approximately £231,890. The resulting 6.29-percentage-point difference suggests renters face increasing costs even as purchasers acquire greater negotiating power.
Chelmsford, Chichester, Milton Keynes, Colchester, Exeter and Cambridge were also identified among the areas where rental growth is outpacing house-price performance.
A housing expert from Trade Door Handles warned that rental pressures were unlikely to ease quickly because the number of available properties had declined.
“Rents are not going to stop climbing any time soon,” the expert said. “There are already 3 per cent fewer rental homes available than there were a year ago, and each listing is getting more than five enquiries on average.”
The expert added that regulatory changes were causing some landlords to reconsider remaining in the market, potentially reducing supply further.
“By the end of the year, rent rises could hit 4 per cent to 5 per cent, and in cities where rents are already stretching what people can afford, that extra pressure is going to push more renters towards buying whether they feel ready or not.”
That final qualification is important. A widening difference between rent growth and house-price performance does not automatically mean that purchasing is financially appropriate for every tenant.
Homebuyers must still account for deposits, mortgage rates, transaction costs, maintenance expenses and the risk that property prices could fall further. Renters may also require the flexibility to relocate for employment or family reasons.
The report nevertheless highlights a shift in the British housing market. For much of the previous property cycle, rapidly increasing house prices made waiting costly for aspiring buyers. The present market is more complicated: prices are softening in several cities, but rents are consuming an increasingly unsustainable share of household income.
The opportunity therefore belongs mainly to renters with stable earnings, secure employment and sufficient savings. For everyone else, the widening rent-price divide may offer less of a route into ownership than another measure of how difficult securing a home has become.
