Private rents ‘at second highest level since 2008’

Private rents have reached their second highest levels since 2008 as activity returns to the sector, a major lettings network has reported.

By The Newsroom

Published 20th Sep 2013, 01:01 BST

At £743 on average, monthly rents in August were just £1 less than an all-time high recorded in October 2012, according to LSL Property Services, which owns chains Your Move and Reeds Rains. The pace of rent increases stepped up to 0.7 per cent month-on-month in August, following a 0.2 per cent monthly uplift in July.

Rents are 1.3 per cent higher across England and Wales than a year ago, showing an increase which is still less than half the rate of consumer price index (CPI) inflation at 2.7 per cent.

But at £1,126 typically, rents in London have risen at a much faster rate than inflation and are up by 4.8 per cent year-on-year.

Official figures released on Wednesday showed that house prices in London are also up by nearly 10 per cent year-on-year, indicating the strength of demand for homes in the English capital.

By contrast, rents in Yorkshire and the Humber are 1.6 per cent lower than last year, at £536 typically.