Average Rents Rise By 2.3%

The average rents being paid by tenants in the UK grew by 2.3% in the year to August, new figures reveal.

The findings from Hamptons International show that the average rent for a new property being let is £998 per month.

The best area for recording annual rent growth of 5.6% is the South East, where the average rent for a new listing is £1,112.

In the South West, rents rose by 5.5% to reach an average of £852.

However, rents fell in Scotland to £654, a drop of 0.7%, and there was a similar fall in the East Midlands to reach £685.

In Wales, rents fell by 3.5% to reach an average of £659.

Average rent in London

The average rent in London is £1,737, a rise of 2%, while in the north of England, rents grew by 1.2% to reach £656.

Hamptons’ head of research, Aneisha Beveridge, said: "Rent growth for rented property is the highest since August 2018 and is now double with rents rising 2.3% in August. That's twice August 2018’s figure of 1%."

The index also reveals the high rent costs for young tenants renting a room in a shared home and they are paying an average of £566 per month.

Meanwhile, another index published by Belvoir reveals that rising rents and increasing tenant applications, plus a shortage of homes to rent is putting pressure on rents for the sector.

Their figures reveal that the average rent reached £774 per month for the second quarter of this year, that's a rise of 4.5% compared to the same time last year.

Dorian Gonsalves, the chief executive of Belvoir, said there are indications that rent rises are feeding through to new tenancies.

Dramatic rise in the number of tenant applications

Also, there's been a dramatic rise in the number of tenant applications for June compared to the month before.

Mr Gonsalves said: "Apart from cost, it's important to remember that most of the 13 million people who rent a property do so because of lifestyle choices, whether that is employment opportunities, family commitments or other factors."

The figures from the network of agents reveal that demand for rented houses is stronger than that for flats with most franchised agents predicting further rent rises this year.

Belvoir says that rents in London have risen by 4.8% over the year with further rises predicted because of stock shortages.