Altrincham, a suburb in the borough of Trafford, has been named the fourth most expensive area for property rental in England. As of September 2026, the average monthly rental payment in Altrincham is £3,172.
It is the most expensive place to rent in the North West, closely followed by Wilmslow in Cheshire, which has an average monthly rent of £2,961.
Record rents across Britain
According to the latest figures published by Rightmove, asking rents have hit new record highs as the supply of available homes for tenants to choose from remains constrained. The average monthly private advertised rent across Britain, excluding London, has topped £1,400 for the first time.
The typical asking rent for a home outside the capital rose to a new record of £1,418 per calendar month in the third quarter of this year. While rents continue to rise, rental price growth has stabilised, compared with the intense competition seen at a recent peak in the market, the property website added.
The annual increase in asking rents in the third quarter was 2.4%. Between 2021 and 2023, annual rental growth hovered at around 10%, Rightmove said.
Supply and demand trends
The number of available rental homes is 2% lower than a year ago, while renter demand is also down by around 2%, the website added. The average asking rent in London reached a new record of £2,825 per calendar month, with annual rental growth there at 3.2% – a faster pace than the 2.4% growth seen outside London.
Higher rents in London appear to be driven by a more pronounced supply squeeze, Rightmove said. The number of available homes to rent in London is down by 9% compared with a year ago, while renter demand has increased by 6% annually. Elevated mortgage rates continue to make property investment less attractive for prospective landlords, Rightmove said.
Expert commentary
Colleen Babcock, a property expert at Rightmove, said: "Average rents have reached another new record and have now surpassed £1,400 per month outside London for the first time. However, beneath the headline figure, rental growth has continued to settle compared with the exceptionally fast pace we saw a few years ago.
She added: "Supply remains constrained, which is continuing to put upward pressure on rents, but demand is also more measured. That has helped to create a more balanced market overall, even though affordability remains a challenge for many renters."
Matt Smith, a mortgage expert at Rightmove, said: "One of the biggest challenges for many landlords at the moment is managing the properties they already own when the time to remortgage comes around.
"New buy-to-let investment has been relatively subdued for some time, and some landlords are still reaching the end of much cheaper fixed-rate deals taken out when borrowing costs were lower," he added. "For those landlords, moving onto a higher mortgage rate can have a significant impact on monthly costs and rental yields."
Richard Antrobus, director at VitalSpace, said: "The rental market in south Manchester remains highly competitive, with demand continuing to outstrip the supply of quality homes."
Regional rental hotspots
In April, another south Manchester town was named a 'rental hotspot' by Rightmove. Urmston, located just over six miles from Altrincham, was named in a list of the top ten rental hotspots outside of London, where the average asking rent in March was £1,600.
Coming in at number five, just behind Harrogate in North Yorkshire, the annual increase in average rent price in Urmston was a whopping 17.6 per cent.
