the average rent on a newly let property fell by 0.2% year on year in July. It was the first annual decline since August 2020

Fuck all. This isn’t a win.

For sitting tenants it is a different story. Average rents on renewed tenancies continued to rise: up 4.5% year on year in July.

An increase for being a loyal customer though.

Despite the small annual decline, the average monthly rent for a new let of £1,373 remains £350 – or 34% – higher than in August 2020.

34% increase in rent since 2020?! Have wages risen by 34%?

This month, Barclays said that, typically, housing accounts for close to a third (30.8%) of renters’ take-home pay, whereas homeowners report spending just over a quarter (26.6%) of their earnings on their mortgage.

1/4 to 1/3 of your labour, just to have a roof over your head. A basic requirement of life. And unlike food, housing isn’t perishable. Many houses could be rented out for over a century by now. And each month they pull in 1/3 of someone’s labour, for what? To pay a parasitic landlord.