Rental costs rose at the fastest rate for a year during August, according to the latest figures from LSL Property Services.
Tenants are increasingly saving up for a deposit on a mortgage as the average costs of renting topped £713 a month. This means that people paid 1.2 per cent more on average to rent in August than in July.
David Newnes, LSL's estate agency managing director, commented, “We are in the thick of the busiest time of year for the rental market, and red-hot demand for properties is driving rents up at their fastest monthly pace in the last 12 months.”
He added that graduates moving out and into their first jobs are pushing demand higher and, over the past two years, average rent has been shown to have risen by more than £50 a month, up from £27 a month recorded in August 2010.
For landlords, this has resulted in an annual rent inflation of four per cent, with average rental yield hitting 5.2 per cent last month.
However, the growth was not spread evenly across the country and the fastest increase was found in Wales and the South East, with increases of around 2.1 per cent. Meanwhile, the West and the East Midlands saw an average drop in rents of 0.4 per cent.
