Rents rising faster in the North, London equity dips, and your next compliance deadline is closer than you think

The same month, restated

Revisions land in months nobody re-reads. Statistical agencies restate earlier periods as more transactions register, but attention has moved on by then — the figure that gets quoted stays the one published on the day. This section reports what has changed in the months we hold on record.

First read on 23 July 2026; re-read 107 times since.

The average UK house price for May 2026 has been restated to £272,040, up £745 from its first published value in July.

UK house price annual growth for May 2026 has been restated to 3%, up 0.3% from its first published value in July.

UK house prices month-on-month for May 2026 has been restated to 0.5%, up 0.2% from its first published value in July.

The UK House Price Index for May 2026 has been restated to 104.3, up 0.3 from its first published value in July.

UK prices essentially flat month-on-month — but your equity position depends heavily on where you own

The UK average house price stood at £272,188 in June 2026, up just 0.1% on the month before — a sharp deceleration from the 0.5% monthly rise recorded in May 2026. The annual rate has also eased, coming in at 2.0% for June against 3.0% for May. That tells you the national picture is cooling: prices are still above where they were a year ago, but the pace of growth is slowing.

What that means for you depends entirely on your postcode. If you own in the North West or North East, your property's value has risen 4.7% and 4.3% respectively year-on-year, which is building equity and strengthening your loan-to-value position ahead of your next remortgage. If you own in London, prices have fallen 2.5% year-on-year in the June data — a drop that directly reduces the equity your lender sees when you come to refinance. The South East, at just 0.3% annual growth, is another region where the equity cushion is thin. These are not signals about where to look next; they are the value of what you already own.

Bank Rate holds at 3.75% — here is what a coming-off-fix landlord is now rolling onto

The Bank Rate stands at 3.75%, as of 27 August 2026. SONIA stands at 3.7309%, as of 26 August 2026. These are the benchmark levels lenders price from. The Bank of England monthly average for a two-year fixed mortgage was 4.79% in July 2026, and for a five-year fix it was 4.61% — both as at 31 July 2026. The average variable rate for the same period was 6.60%. These are averages across the market for that month, not today's live quotes from any individual lender.

If you are approaching the end of a fix taken out in 2022 or 2023 — when rates were rising sharply — the rate you now face is lower than the peaks of that period, but still meaningfully above sub-2% deals many landlords locked in before 2022. The practical question is the gap between your monthly mortgage payment at the new rate and the rent your property earns. With rents rising at 3.7% annually (see Rental Intelligence below), that gap may have narrowed in your favour since you last looked — but the arithmetic is worth running before you accept the first renewal offer your lender puts in front of you. A five-year fix at 4.61% offers 18 basis points of saving over the two-year equivalent and more payment certainty in a regime the macro data currently describes as transitional.

North runs hot, London slips, and every other region sits somewhere between the two — what your area's number means for your equity

The regional spread in the June 2026 HPI data is wide, and where your property sits in that spread is your equity story for the next remortgage. Northern Ireland leads the UK at 9.2% annual growth, with an average price of £202,487. Among English regions, the North West (+4.7%, average £219,922) and North East (+4.3%, average £165,550) are the strongest performers. Yorkshire and The Humber added 3.6% year-on-year. The West Midlands came in at 3.3%, East Midlands 2.4%, South West 1.9%, and South East 0.3%.

London is the one English region in the red: prices fell 2.5% year-on-year to £553,870 on average. If you own in London, that reduction in value is not an abstract data point — it is the asset your lender values at remortgage, and it may have moved your loan-to-value into a higher pricing band since your last fix. The East of England managed just 1.1% annual growth. Wales came in at 1.8% and Scotland 2.3%. Month-on-month the picture is mixed: Northern Ireland (+2.1%), North East (+1.0%) and London (+1.0%) all ticked up in June, while Wales (-0.9%), East Midlands (-0.7%) and Yorkshire and The Humber (-0.6%) edged back slightly.

More homes are being planned — what that means for the supply picture around your property

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill is progressing through Parliament in 2026, targeting streamlined approvals, unlocked brownfield land, and higher housing delivery targets. Government-backed initiatives are directing development at urban sites including Cambridge, Manchester, Newcastle and Nottingham. The intent is a meaningful increase in housing supply over the medium term — which, for you as a landlord who already owns, matters in two directions: more rental stock competing with your property in some markets, and potentially stronger local economies sustaining tenant demand in others.

The more immediate planning note for a self-managing landlord is the permitted development route for conversions, which has attracted attention in the trade press this month for facing a finance gap — specialist lenders have become more cautious about these schemes, which does not affect you if you own a standard residential let, but is worth knowing if you have ever considered converting ancillary space. For most landlords with one to three homes, the planning environment in 2026 is mainly background: the regulatory obligations below are the closer-range issue. Where planning does touch you directly is at the local level — if new-build rental supply is coming to your area, it bears on what rent you can sustain and how long voids last.

Four obligations, four deadlines — where you stand right now

Renters' Rights Act — already in force. Since 1 May 2026, every assured tenancy in England is an assured periodic tenancy. Fixed terms are gone, Section 21 no-fault evictions are abolished, and the only route to possession is through the statutory Section 8 grounds. Every rent increase now requires a valid Section 13 notice — no clause in your tenancy agreement can substitute for it. You must give at least two months' written notice, rent can rise no more than once in any twelve-month period, and a tenant cannot have their rent raised in the first twelve months of their tenancy. If you have not yet updated your standard notice procedure, this is the single most urgent administrative task you face. See our Renters' Rights Act guide and the Section 13 notice guide for the step-by-step process.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax — in stages from April 2026. If your gross rental income (before expenses) exceeded £50,000 in the 2024–25 tax year, MTD for Income Tax applied to you from 6 April 2026: you must keep digital records and submit quarterly updates to HMRC through approved software, replacing the annual Self Assessment return. The threshold falls to £30,000 gross income from April 2027, and to £20,000 from April 2028 — meaning the majority of landlords with more than one property will be caught within two years. If you are not yet set up with MTD-compatible software, the first quarterly deadline may already have passed or be approaching. See our MTD guide for the software options and submission calendar.

EPC C by 1 October 2030. The Warm Homes Plan, confirmed on 21 January 2026, set a single unified deadline: all private rented properties in England and Wales must reach EPC Band C by 1 October 2030, covering both new and existing tenancies. The earlier proposal to require Band C for new tenancies from 2028 was dropped in favour of this single date. The cap on required spending before an exemption can be claimed is £10,000 per property, lowered further where £10,000 represents 10% or more of the property's value; fines for non-compliance are set at up to £30,000 per property per breach. A new EPC measurement methodology becomes compulsory from 1 October 2029 — if your current certificate shows Band C under the old methodology, it remains valid until it expires, but any new certificate issued after that date will use the new standard. Properties rated below C today have until 2030, but contractor capacity is finite; starting the improvement work early is the practical hedge. See our EPC C guide.

PRS Database registration — phased rollout from late 2026. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 creates a mandatory national register of all private landlords and rental properties in England, called the PRS Database. The government has confirmed a phased regional rollout beginning in late 2026, with full mandatory registration expected to roll progressively through 2027 under secondary legislation yet to be confirmed. An unregistered landlord loses access to key Section 8 possession grounds and faces penalties of up to £40,000. The registration service — called 'Register your rental property' — has been beta-tested with a group of landlords in mid-2026. When your region opens, you will need your property details and tenancy information to hand. See our PRS Database guide and check the compliance index for opening dates as they are confirmed.

UK rents hit £1,393 a month in July — but the North East is running at more than twice the South East's growth rate

The ONS Price Index of Private Rents put the UK average monthly rent at £1,393 in July 2026, up 3.7% year-on-year. That annual rate has accelerated from 3.3% in June — a sign that rental inflation is re-gathering pace at the national level rather than fading. For you as a landlord, this figure is your income benchmark: if your property is renting significantly below the ONS figure for its region, the market data is telling you there is headroom — and that same data is what a First-tier Tribunal would reference if a tenant challenged a Section 13 increase.

The more striking picture is the regional spread. Among English regions, the North East leads at 6.3% annual rent growth, against the South East at 2.9% — a gap of 3.4 percentage points between the fastest and slowest English regions. The North West is close behind at 5.7% annual growth; Yorkshire and The Humber at 5.0%; the West Midlands at 4.5%; the South West at 4.5%; the East of England at 3.7%. London, despite its average rent of £2,317 per month — the highest of any region — is growing more slowly than most, at 3.0% annually. Scotland is the slowest across all nations at 1.7%; Northern Ireland's rent figures are not published for this period. If your property is in any of these regions, the specific ONS figure for that area — not the UK average — is the number to take to a Section 13 process. See rent guides by city and bedroom count for the local-level detail.

What your existing property may be leaving on the table — and two things worth doing now while the window is clear

The 3.4 percentage point gap between the North East (6.3% annual rent growth) and the South East (2.9%) means the value of a rent review depends heavily on where you own — and whether you have actually done one recently. Many landlords in higher-growth regions have been cautious about triggering the Section 13 process during the transition to the new tenancy rules. But if your current rent was set more than twelve months ago and you own in the North East, North West or Yorkshire, the ONS data suggests the market has moved considerably since you last set it. The ONS rent figure for your region is the benchmark a tribunal will use — if your rent is already at or above that level, there is less room; if it is below, the gap between your current rent and the regional figure is the case for an increase. Check the rental yield index for your local authority to see where you sit against 294 English local authorities.

On the mortgage side, the 18-basis-point difference between the July 2026 average two-year fix (4.79%) and five-year fix (4.61%) is modest in isolation — but over five years on a typical buy-to-let the cumulative saving matters, and rate certainty in a transitional macro environment has its own value. If your current fix expires within the next six months, most lenders allow you to lock a rate three to six months ahead; checking now costs nothing and protects against any upward move. On the EPC front, the 1 October 2030 deadline is just over four years away — far enough that it does not feel urgent, but close enough that contractor books in some regions are already beginning to fill for insulation and heat-pump work. Getting an assessment done now and scheduling the work for 2027 or 2028 is cheaper than competing for a slot in 2029.

What to do this week

1. Check your Section 13 notice procedure. Since 1 May 2026, a valid Section 13 notice is the only lawful way to raise rent on an assured periodic tenancy. If you have not served one before, read our guide before your next review — a defective notice has no legal effect and means no rent increase.

2. Look up your region's ONS rent figure. The UK average (£1,393 a month) is a headline, not your number. Use the rent guides to find what properties like yours are achieving in your specific area — that is the evidence that supports a Section 13 increase and the figure a tribunal will reference if your tenant challenges it.

3. Confirm whether Making Tax Digital applies to you this tax year. If your gross rental income exceeded £50,000 in 2024–25, you are already in scope from 6 April 2026. The threshold falls to £30,000 from April 2027. Check where you stand and ensure you have MTD-compatible software in place. See the MTD guide.

4. Get your EPC assessed if it has expired or if you are unsure of your current band. The deadline for EPC C compliance is 1 October 2030. If your property is currently Band D or below, a current certificate is the first step toward knowing how much work — and roughly how much cost against the £10,000 cap — stands between you and compliance. See the EPC C guide.

5. If your fix expires within six months, explore your remortgage options now. The Bank of England monthly average for a two-year fix was 4.79% in July 2026 and 4.61% for five years. Rolling onto the average variable rate of 6.60% costs you significantly more each month. Many lenders allow you to secure a rate up to six months before your deal ends — acting early removes that risk.