Rents up 3.8% and house prices up 0.9% — and the proposed PRS Database registration deadline is approaching

Your property's value edged up again in August — here is what that means at remortgage

The month-on-month pace has eased from July's 0.5% to 0.3% in August, and the annual rate has also softened from 1.2% to 0.9%, so the direction is still positive but the speed has moderated.

For you as a landlord, that £273,037 is not a transaction — it is the benchmark that sits behind your loan-to-value calculation when your current mortgage deal ends. Even a modest upward move in your property's value can shift you into a lower LTV band, which typically unlocks a better remortgage rate. If your property is in a region where values have risen more sharply than the national average — the North East and North West, for instance — that equity rebuild may be more pronounced. The flip side is London and the South East, where annual growth was negative in August: if that describes your property, your equity position may be weaker than the headline figure suggests, and it is worth knowing your area's figure before you approach a lender. Regional detail is in the Regional Watch section below.

Bank Rate stands at 4.0% — what the current fix landscape costs you

The Bank Rate stands at 4.0%, as of 2026-11-05. SONIA stands at 3.7335%, as of 2026-11-04. Both fixed options sit well below the average variable rate of 6.58% for the same period: the five-year fix is cheaper than the variable by 1.39 percentage points (139 basis points), and the two-year fix by 1.19 percentage points (119 basis points) — both UKPP calculations.

These are Bank of England monthly averages, not today's live market quotes, and your own rate will depend on your LTV, lender and property type. But the gap between fixing and reverting to variable is material. If your current deal is ending, the difference between taking a new fixed rate and drifting onto a variable one will show up directly in the gap between your monthly mortgage payment and your rental income. A five-year fix locks in your rate for the full five-year term, which may suit you if you want certainty over your costs while rents continue to move.

The North East leads annual English house price growth at 3.2%; London and the South East are the only regions where values fell

Among English regions, the North East had the fastest annual house price growth in August 2026, at 3.2%, followed by the North West at 2.2%, the West Midlands at 2.0%, Yorkshire and The Humber at 1.8%, and the East Midlands at 0.5%. The East of England printed 0.2% and the South West 0.0% — effectively flat. All figures are from HM Land Registry (UK House Price Index) for August 2026.

In terms of average prices, London remains highest at £554,430 and the North East lowest at £165,640 — both August 2026 figures. If you own in London or the South East, the annual decline is a reduction in your equity, and it matters most if your mortgage deal is ending soon and your LTV has crept upward as a result. If you own in a northern English region where values are rising ahead of the UK average of 0.9%, that growth is working in your favour at remortgage. On a monthly basis, London and the South West jointly had the fastest monthly change at 0.7% each, while the North East and the South East were the only English regions where monthly house price change fell, with the North East at -0.6% and the South East at -0.1% — so the picture month-to-month is not the same as the annual story. Wales and Scotland printed annual growth of 3.1% and 2.9% respectively, both above the UK average.

No new planning or housing-supply data this edition — check locally

There are no verified planning or housing-supply figures in this edition's sourced data.

If you want to understand what is happening to rental supply in your area — new build completions, permitted development activity, local authority housing targets — your local council's planning portal and the RICS Housing Market Survey are the best starting points. Changes in local supply affect how your property sits in its market, and are worth watching alongside the rent data in the section below.

Two obligations are in force now; two more are proposed — here is what each one requires of you

Two obligations are already in force. First, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: if your gross rental income — before expenses, also known as turnover — exceeds £50,000 from 6 April 2026, you are already within MTD's scope and must be using compatible software to keep digital records and submit quarterly updates to HMRC. The threshold drops to £30,000 from 6 April 2027 and to £20,000 from 6 April 2028. Property and self-employment income count together towards the threshold; PAYE, dividends and pension income do not. If you own a property jointly, only your share of the rent counts — HMRC's own example is that an equally owned property producing £50,000 contributes £25,000 to each owner's qualifying income. There are no penalties for missing a quarterly update deadline in the 2026-27 tax year, but after that a points-based system applies: one point per missed deadline, a £200 penalty at four points. See our guide at /compliance/making-tax-digital-landlords for the full detail.

Second, the Renters' Rights Act 2025 Phase 1 took effect on 1 May 2026 for assured tenancies. Section 21 is abolished: you can no longer end a tenancy without a specific statutory ground. For any new letting, you must give the tenant a written statement of terms before the tenancy is entered into — there is no grace period on an ordinary new let, and the civil penalty starting point in GOV.UK's enforcement guidance is £4,000, within a statutory maximum of £7,000. If a tenant asks to keep a pet, you must respond by the 28th day after the request, and consent cannot be unreasonably refused. A Section 13 rent increase can be made only once in any 52-week period with at least two months' notice on Form 4A — the full process is at /compliance/section-13-rent-increases. Under the Act, advertising a property at anything other than a specific stated rent, or accepting a bid above it, carries a penalty of up to £7,000. See our full guide at /compliance/renters-rights-act.

Two further items are government proposals, not yet in force. On EPC standards, the government's confirmed policy — not yet law — is that all private lets must meet an EPC C equivalent standard by 1 October 2030, measured against a new dual-metric standard (fabric performance first, then either the smart readiness or heating system metric). Today's Energy Efficiency Rating is built on a different methodology, but under the government's grandparenting decision a property with an EPC showing C or above on it, lodged before 1 October 2029, would be recognised as compliant until that EPC expires or is replaced; the new metrics apply to a new EPC. The government's proposal also includes a £10,000 cost cap, with qualifying spend counting towards it from 1 October 2025 under its confirmed policy. For properties valued below £100,000, the proposed cap would be 10% of the property's value, whichever is lower. The proposed maximum penalty is £30,000 per property per breach — not yet law; today's maximum is £5,000 per property in total. Full detail at /compliance/epc-c-2030.

On PRS Database registration, under the draft Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026 — laid before Parliament but not yet approved — registration opens in the West Midlands on 15 December 2026, with further regions opening on the 15th of each subsequent month. Under that draft schedule, the West Midlands registration window closes on 14 March 2027 and the final regional deadline would be 14 November 2027 for the South West. The indicative fee under the draft regulations is £65 per property per year — a published figure, not a statutory one, and subject to change. Under the draft regulations, a landlord who had not registered would not be able to obtain a possession order on most grounds once the registration duty is in force, with the only exceptions being the tenant anti-social behaviour grounds. These dates and consequences are from draft regulations, not yet in force. Full detail at /compliance/prs-database-registration.

The North West leads English rent growth at 5.7%; your monthly income is rising — here is where you stand

The annual rate has edged down by 0.03 percentage points from the previous month's 3.8% — a UKPP calculation from ONS data — so the pace of growth is essentially unchanged.

The more significant story is the spread across English regions. The North West led English regions in September 2026 with annual private rent growth of 5.7%, while London and the South East jointly had the slowest growth among English regions at 3.5% each. That gap — 5.7% at the top against 3.5% at the bottom — is a UKPP calculation from ONS data. The northern English regions (North East, North West and Yorkshire and The Humber) are the three fastest among English English regions, with the North East at 5.3% and Yorkshire and The Humber at 4.8%. If your property is in one of those regions, the ONS figures suggest the market rate has moved materially over the past twelve months.

In absolute terms, London remains the highest-rent English region at £2,338 per month, and the North East the lowest at £790. GOV.UK says details from actual market rental agreements are usually stronger evidence for a Section 13 tribunal than housing association rents, previous fair rent decisions, or local housing allowance rates, and that evidence from actual agreed lettings (rental agreements) is stronger than information from letting agents or portal listings such as Rightmove and Zoopla, which can help. Your local figures by bedroom count are at /rent-guides, and the Section 13 process is at /compliance/section-13-rent-increases. Scotland's annual rent growth was 0.7% in September 2026 — the slowest of any nation or English region in the ONS data.

Three things already in your hands that could improve your position this year

The annual growth rate across English regions ranges from 3.5% to 5.7% in September 2026, and in northern English regions the move is well above the national 3.8%. Check your area's published figure at /rent-guides, then read the Section 13 process carefully — Form 4A, two months' notice, and no more than one increase in any 52-week period are the rules in force now.

On your mortgage, the gap between fixing and drifting to variable is material at current Bank of England monthly averages: the average variable rate of 6.58% sits 1.39 percentage points above the average five-year fixed rate of 5.19% — a UKPP calculation. If your deal is ending, the five-year fix locks in your rate for the full five-year term, which may suit you if you want cost certainty while your rental income continues to grow. Even if your fix has time to run, knowing your property's current value — and therefore your LTV — is worth doing before the renewal conversation starts.

On EPC, the government's confirmed policy (not yet law) proposes that qualifying spend towards the new standard counts from 1 October 2025. The government's impact assessment estimates average spend of £5,400 per property, but that is an average across very different buildings and not a quote for yours. If your property is already close to Band C on today's rating, the most useful thing you can do now is get an updated EPC assessment so you know where you actually stand before committing to any work — not least because the 2030 standard is proposed to be measured against new dual-metric criteria, not today's single rating.

What to do this week

1. CHECK YOUR MTD STATUS. If your gross rent (before expenses) is above £50,000 for the 2026-27 tax year, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax applies to you now. If it is above £30,000, it applies from 6 April 2027. Log in to HMRC's eligibility checker and confirm your position — the threshold is on gross rent, not profit, and joint owners count only their own share.

2. REVIEW YOUR TENANCY PAPERWORK. Phase 1 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 has been in force since 1 May 2026. For any new letting, the written statement of terms must be given before the tenancy is entered into — there is no grace period. If you have let a property since 1 May 2026 without doing this, the civil penalty starting point in GOV.UK's guidance is £4,000, within a statutory maximum of £7,000. Check your documents now.

3. LOOK UP YOUR AREA'S RENT. If you have not reviewed your rent in over a year, compare it to the ONS figure for your region at /rent-guides. If there is a material gap, read the Section 13 process at /compliance/section-13-rent-increases before serving any notice — the prescribed form, two months' notice and the 52-week rule all apply.

4. MARK THE PRS DATABASE DATE. Under the draft Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026 (not yet in force), registration opens in the West Midlands on 15 December 2026. If you own in the West Midlands, that is your opening date under the draft schedule; the window to register would close on 14 March 2027. Other regions follow monthly. Put the date relevant to your property's region in your calendar — these are draft regulations and can still move, so check /compliance/prs-database-registration for updates.

5. CHECK YOUR MORTGAGE DEAL END DATE AND SPEAK TO A BROKER. The gap between the current Bank of England monthly average fixed rates and the average variable rate is significant. If your deal is ending in the coming months, speak to a broker about what your LTV, property value and income picture mean for the rates available to you — this is the one point in this edition where taking individual advice is worth it.

Corrections to figures already published

The figures below have been restated since they were first published. Each line states the exact date of the correction and the change, so a restatement that missed an earlier edition's cut-off is still placed on record rather than left unreported.

The average UK house price for Jul 2026 was revised on 22 October 2026, from £272,611 to £272,146.

UK house price annual growth for Jul 2026 was revised on 22 October 2026, from 1.4% to 1.2%.

UK house prices month-on-month for Jul 2026 was revised on 22 October 2026, from 0.7% to 0.5%.

The UK House Price Index for Jul 2026 was revised on 22 October 2026, from 104.5 to 104.3.