UK rents rose by over 10% last month, the seventh double-digit rise in a year and the largest November jump since records began.
Tenants saw rents increase by 10.2% in November, according to estate agency Hamptons, with the £125 jump taking the monthly average across the UK to £1,348.
This marked the biggest rise seen in any November since 2014, when the firm began keeping records.
“While over the last 12 months the rent bill has increased because of record-breaking rental growth, longer term it’s mostly risen as a result of more households renting,” Hampton research head Aneisha Beveridge said.
Rental prices climbed the fastest in London, rising by 13.2% to £3,174 in November.
Southwest England saw the slowest rise meanwhile, as November’s average rent of £1,162 marked a 5.1% jump on last year.
Beveridge explained that the jump in interest rates over the past year had meant people were renting for longer, rather than moving onto the housing ladder.
Given the declining demand for homes to buy, asking prices for properties coming to the market have declined by 1.9% to £355,177 in December, according to Rightmove.
“Tenants across Great Britain paid a record £85.6bn in rent in 2023,” Beveridge added meanwhile, “equivalent to the total value of all homes sold in London last year”.