The Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR) is the UK's official monthly measure of private rent levels and rent inflation, published by the ONS down to local-authority level in England. It tracks the whole rented stock, not just new lets, which makes it useful context for a rent review but never a valuation of an individual property.
When a landlord asks what rents are doing locally, or a tenant checks a proposed increase against the news, the numbers usually trace back to PIPR. So it helps to know exactly what the index measures, and what it cannot see.
What does PIPR measure?
PIPR is the Office for National Statistics' monthly measure of private rent prices across the UK. It publishes average rents in pounds and annual percentage change, broken down by region, property type, and number of bedrooms. The ONS has published it monthly since March 2024.[1][2]
The design choice that matters most: PIPR measures the rented stock. The ONS builds it to reflect price changes for all private rental properties, not only newly advertised ones, so sitting tenants and renewals count alongside new lets.[2]
In England, the rents behind the index are collected by Rent Officers at the Valuation Office Agency, over 450,000 a year from letting agents and landlords. They are achieved rents across new, renewal, and existing tenancies, not asking prices.[2]
How is the index calculated?
With a hedonic model. Each property is described by its characteristics: bedrooms, floor area, property type, location, furnished status. The model estimates how much each one adds to the rent. The ONS then re-prices the same fixed basket of properties every month, so the index compares like with like rather than following whichever mix of homes happened to be collected.[2]
Two consequences follow. Published rent levels are modelled averages, not medians; the ONS is developing a separate median and quartile product for that reason.[2][3] And the latest two months of UK estimates are provisional and revised monthly, though expected revisions to the annual rate are no more than 0.02 percentage points.[2]
What do the latest figures show?
In the 12 months to July 2026, the average UK private rent rose 3.7% to £1,393 a month, a provisional estimate, while England rose 3.8% to £1,451.[1] The spread within England is wide. Annual inflation ran highest in the North East at 6.3% and lowest in the South East at 2.9%, though London still holds the highest average rent of any English region.[1]
| Geography | Average monthly rent | Annual change (12 months to May 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| UK (provisional) | £1,393 | 3.7% |
| England | £1,451 | 3.8% |
| London | £2,317 | 3.0% |
Figures are from the ONS bulletin released 19 August 2026. The series updates monthly and the newest months revise, so check the latest bulletin before quoting a number to a landlord.[1][4]
How local does the data go?
To local authority level in England, and no further. There is no postcode, ward, or street-level PIPR. Postcodes are used only internally, to map properties to larger areas.[2] Below regional level, the ONS applies a three-month moving average to steady low-sample areas, and it publishes nothing for the City of London or the Isles of Scilly.[2]
That floor matters. One local authority can contain very different micro-markets, and no average can see a property's condition, outside space, or exact street. Treat the local figure as background to evidence of what similar homes actually let for, never as proof about one property.
How should letting agents use PIPR in a rent review?
As context, never as the answer. Since 1 May 2026, a rent increase on a private assured tenancy in England runs through a Section 13 notice on Form 4A,[5][6] and the statutory benchmark is the open market rent for that property, decided by the First-tier Tribunal if the tenant refers the notice.[7][8] An index shows average movement across a local authority; it does not value an individual home. These rules apply in England only.
Used honestly, PIPR does two things well. It shows what official data says average local rents have done since the current rent was set, and it gives landlord and tenant a transparent reference point both can check. Pair it with comparable evidence. Our guide to rent reviews under the Renters' Rights Act covers where each type of evidence fits.
PIPR is the index MarketRent applies by default when you add rent indexation to an evidence pack. You decide the figure; the platform brings the market context and comparable evidence together around it. For a single property, the Free Rent Indexation Tool generates an indexed reference point and range from published ONS data, a starting point for framing the conversation rather than a full market rent determination.
This article is general information for letting agents in England, not legal advice.
Sources
- ONS, Private rent and house prices, UK: August 2026 (released 19 August 2026)
- ONS, Price Index of Private Rents QMI (quality and methodology information)
- ONS, Private rental prices development plan (updated May 2026)
- ONS, Private rent and house prices, UK (latest monthly bulletin)
- Housing Act 1988, section 13 (increases of rent under assured tenancies), as amended
- The Renters' Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 2 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/421)
- Housing Act 1988, section 14 (determination of rent by tribunal), as amended
- GOV.UK, Assured periodic tenancies: a guide for landlords — rent increases