Bank of England rate rise to 4%: 82 of 316 areas in England & Wales now have gross rental yields below Bank Rate

The Bank of England raised Bank Rate from 3.75% to 4% on 5 November 2026. On our data, the estimated gross rental yield is below 4% in 82 of 316 local authorities in England & Wales, up from 43 below the old 3.75% rate. The median is 4.36%.

By GableIndex team · 2026-11-09 · Data as of ONS Price Index of Private Rents, July 2026, and HM Land Registry Price Paid Data, Aug 2025–Jul 2026; Bank Rate as announced on 5 Nov 2026

The short version: the Monetary Policy Committee voted 8–1 to raise Bank Rate by 0.25 percentage points to 4%, its first increase in more than three years (Bank of England, Monetary Policy Summary, November 2026). Bank Rate is not a mortgage rate, but it is the benchmark that tracker mortgages follow and that lenders price from. On our figures, a year's rent divided by the median price paid comes to less than 4% in 82 of 316 local authorities in England & Wales. At the old 3.75%, the count was 43. So the rise moved 39 areas from above Bank Rate to below it, before any costs, tax or a lender's margin.

What the Bank decided, and why

The Bank says UK CPI inflation rose to 3.5% in September and is expected to reach around 5% by the middle of 2027, driven mainly by energy prices. One MPC member voted for a larger rise, to 4.25%. The Bank's explainer says policy is not on a pre-set path and that the next decision is due on 17 December 2026. Higher Bank Rate feeds through first to tracker and variable-rate borrowers; people on fixed deals feel it when they refinance.

Where gross yields sit against 4%

Estimated gross rental yield = ONS average private rent × 12 ÷ HM Land Registry median price paid. Source: ONS Price Index of Private Rents, July 2026 (OGL v3.0); HM Land Registry Price Paid Data, Aug 2025–Jul 2026 (OGL v3.0); GableIndex calculation. Full ranking: rental yields in England & Wales.

By area, 8 of the 32 London boroughs on our table are below 4% (median 4.61%), as are 5 of 22 Welsh authorities (median 4.44%) and 69 of 262 authorities in the rest of England (median 4.33%). The areas below Bank Rate tend to be places where prices are high relative to local rents, such as the outer London boroughs of Bromley, Harrow and Hillingdon and commuter districts in Surrey. The highest estimates are in city centres with large rental markets, such as Newcastle upon Tyne, Bristol, Portsmouth and Manchester; 66 authorities are at 5% or more.

Worked example

Bromley: £1,681 × 12 = £20,172 of rent a year. £20,172 ÷ £520,000 ≈ 3.88%. That is before letting fees, repairs, insurance, service charges, empty months and income tax. Bank Rate at 4% is a reference rate: lenders add their own margin, and fixed-rate deals are priced from market rates rather than Bank Rate itself. A gross yield below Bank Rate simply means that, in that area, a year's rent is a smaller share of the price than the Bank's benchmark rate.

What X is saying

Posts mentioning the Bank of England or interest rates alongside mortgages, landlords or house prices ran at 869, 364, 145 and 96 a day from 5 to 8 November (UTC). The mood is mostly negative. A widely shared post argued the Bank "can't lower global oil prices. But it can make your mortgage more expensive". Buy-to-let accounts were more practical, noting that "the impact depends on your mortgage", while others contrasted tracker borrowers with "landlords with tenants in place" who keep collecting rent.

What the numbers don't tell you

• Gross, not net. A gross yield is rent over price. It leaves out every cost and all tax, and it says nothing about anyone's actual borrowing.
• Bank Rate is not a mortgage rate. Mortgage pricing depends on the lender, the loan-to-value, the term and market rates. We don't publish mortgage rates.
• Different measures. ONS rents are averages across all private rents in the area, not just new lets; HM Land Registry prices are medians of recorded sales. They don't describe the same homes.
• Timing. Our rents are for July 2026 and our prices for the 12 months to July 2026. Any effect of the rate rise on rents or prices is not in these figures.
• Coverage. Scotland and Northern Ireland are not on our England & Wales table.

Sources: Bank of England, Monetary Policy Summary and minutes, November 2026, and "Why have interest rates gone up?" explainer (both 5 Nov 2026). Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0 (Price Index of Private Rents, July 2026). Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2021. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 (Price Paid Data, Aug 2025–Jul 2026); modified by GableIndex. Posts on X, 5–9 Nov 2026.

See also: Rental yields in England & Wales · Rental yields after the 2027 landlord tax rise, by local authority · Landlord tax rise 2027 · Cheapest and most expensive places to rent · England & Wales house prices by district · Methodology · All articles

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Figures are a snapshot and will change. Information only. Not financial, investment, tax or legal advice.