Summary
Zoopla's Rental Market Report has been publishing quarterly rental price information since 2019. A quarterly rental prices index had been published by Findaproperty.com, which merged with Zoopla in 2012.
Data
The data from the Zoopla Rental Market Report is based on information on rental properties from 500 areas across the UK and is powered by Hometrack. This provides data on renter demand by price band in London, the average rental value, change in rental growth, rental affordability and average days on market. It also flags up the regions and cities with the highest and lowest rental growth.
Method
The quarterly Zoopla Rental Market Report uses the same methodology as the Zoopla UK Cities House Price Index. This is based on repeat sales methodology and tracks the changes to achieved rents over time. Although it looks at data across 500 geographic areas it only publishes data for 55 areas. The main input is Zoopla rental listings data with additional data on housing attributes and demographics used with the index's algorithm and models. The listing data is adjusted to reflect the difference between asking and achieved rents.
The repeat sales methodology sees pairs of lettings for the same or similar property in a local area used to generate a raw index series for one, two, three and four bedroom homes in each locality. The index is not seasonally adjusted.
The affordability of renting measure uses data on gross earnings for a single earner from the Office of National Statistics and expresses rent as a percentage of gross earnings.
Advantages
- The data is well presented for a professional audience and the accompanying commentary is easy to read.
- The analysis of rental affordability by looking at data on earnings provides an interesting insight into local rental markets.
Disadvantages
- The quarterly data makes it less timely than the monthly indices.
- The headline figures are presented in a press release for consumers. A less accessible version aimed at professionals can be downloaded online.
Verdict
The Zoopla Rental Market Report offers useful information about local property markets tailored to both consumer and professional audiences. The rental affordability data is also welcome.
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