Standing view · housing · County Durham
deteriorating, held with established confidence, formed on 5 October 2026 from movements in 2026-08.
The housing market in County Durham has been losing ground, and rents are the clearest part of it. Average private rent for two bedrooms rose month after month: 563 in March 2026, 568 in May, 571 in June, 574 in July and 579 in August 2026, with three bedrooms at 676 in April. The average house price was 135,458 in March 2026. Prevention duty, section 21 notice stood at 60 in the first quarter of 2026 and was recorded as unfavourable against the usual pattern for its quarter — households facing eviction from a private tenancy, and the one directional reading here.
A view is formed only where the evidence names a figure you can check. Each movement listed as a reason had to be large enough to matter and distinctive in at least one way — unusual against this area's own history, unusual against comparable areas, or sustained over several periods. A movement shared with peers counts for less, because it says something about the country rather than about County Durham. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.
| Measure | Period | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Prevention duty, section 21 notice | 2026-Q1 | deteriorating |
These figures carry no defensible direction of their own: a rising house price is good news to an owner and bad news to someone trying to buy, so we do not score one as an improvement. They are shown because they are part of the picture, and they did not decide the view above.
| Measure | Period | Series |
|---|---|---|
| Average house price | 2026-03 | — |
| Average private rent, two bedrooms | 2026-03 | rising |
| Average private rent, three bedrooms | 2026-04 | rising |
| Average private rent, two bedrooms | 2026-05 | rising |
| Average private rent, two bedrooms | 2026-06 | rising |
| Average private rent, two bedrooms | 2026-07 | rising |
| Average private rent, two bedrooms | 2026-08 | rising |