A record rise has been reported in the cost of renting as one area charges £3,305 for just a single calendar month. Overall the average monthly rent paid in England now stands at £1,285, a 9.1 per cent increase, the findings have reported.
Capital city London saw the highest increases in England where the average surged 11.2 per cent over the past 12 months. Properties in Kensington and Chelsea had the highest average monthly rents, at £3,305, the study has also found.
The Hargreaves Lansdown head of personal finance Sarah Coles said in a statement in the wake of the findings this week: “There’s no let-up in the squeeze on renters, as rents were up 9.2 per cent in a year – a record since the data was first collected in 2015.”
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Ms Coles added: “Rising house prices and higher mortgage rates, coupled with tougher taxes and more stringent rules around letting property, means the numbers have stopped adding up for huge numbers of landlords, who have been gradually selling up and getting out of the business.”
Outside London, Bristol had the highest rents, at £1,748. In Wales, tenants were paying an average of £727 in March, up 9 per cent or £60 from a year earlier. Scotland saw rent prices jump 10.5 per cent – some £90 more – in the past 12 months to hit £947 in March.
For Northern Ireland, the data only goes up to January, when rents increased by 10.1 per cent. The North East has the lowest rent in the whole of the UK, with tenants paying on average £662. The Office for National Statistics revealed the findings on Wednesday.
The study came amid the ongoing Cost of Living crisis - with millions finding it increasingly hard to get on the housing ladder in the UK.
