• Swindon & Wiltshire Property
• Wednesday September 17 2025

Supply challenges ‘driving continued growth for Bristol house prices’

A lack of new supply is continuing to drive both price and rental growth for Bristol’s residential market, according to the latest data from global real estate services firm JLL.

Its latest Big Six Residential Development Report, covering Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, Edinburgh and Glasgow, found that the average price of new build apartments has risen 2.5 per cent over the past year, the second highest annual growth out of the ‘Big Six’ cities.

One-bedroomed apartments have seen the biggest increase in demand from buyers, with prices rising six per cent over the past 12 months.

Average rents in the city have also continued to grow, rising by 2.4 per cent in the same period.

This follows a period of sustained growth for prices and rents in the city over the past five years, which have both risen by 14.4 per cent and 34 per cent respectively.

Nicholas Rumble, director of residential development in Bristol, said: “Bristol is a city that remains a popular destination for university students to study, with an increasing number also choosing to remain in the city after their studies.

“Demand therefore continues to be high and is unlikely to wane anytime soon.

“At the same time there is a continuing undersupply of new stock being brought to market for both sale and rent.

“This is what has driven the long-term increase in both prices and rents, and why this growth shows no signs of stopping in the short-to-medium term.”

National housebuilding has fallen to its lowest level in almost a decade in the first half of the year, with the report also revealing just over 200,000 new homes were completed in the past 12 months – down eight per cent on the previous year and 17 per cent lower than the most recent peak in 2022.

This comes as prices and rents have both grown in the UK over the last year, with the research also showing an average increase of 1.7 per cent and 2.1 per cent respectively across the Big Six cities

Marcus Dixon, director of UK residential research at JLL, said: “The slowdown in delivery is most acute in our largest cities, where the proportion of high-rise projects is greatest.

“These delays are adding to the viability challenges already faced by developers, from higher build costs to planning complexity.

“Without urgent action to streamline the approvals process and unlock stalled schemes, the UK risks falling short of its housing ambitions.”

Image by Boys in Bristol Photography at Pexels