# Rental hotspots where competition for homes was strong over the summer revealed

By Aneisha Beveridge — 2026-09-23

Aneisha Beveridge, research director at Connells Group, insists affordability is impacting London after locations in northern England were the most competitive rental markets over the summer.

She said: “Rental growth is beginning to gather pace again after a fairly subdued period, with much of that momentum coming from markets outside London.

“The introduction of the Renters’ Rights Act has added new costs and administrative burdens for landlords, and those pressures are increasingly feeding through into rents on newly agreed tenancies.

“London’s rental market is moving at a different speed. Affordability is acting as a natural brake on rent rises in the capital, while many northern markets still have more room for growth.

“In many respects, the rental market is beginning to follow the same path as house prices over the last decade, with lower-cost areas across the North continuing to outperform and narrowing the historic divide with the South.”

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