The total amount of UK rent paid by tenants has slid by 8% from a peak of £62.4bn in 2018 down to £57.3bn this year, according to Hamptons.

Despite record rental growth, the drop has been driven by a combination of fewer renters and “successive generations choosing to spend different amounts on rent”, says the estate agent’s August Monthly Lettings Index.

However, a shorter-term view sees UK rent prices continue to pick up pace.

The average rent of a new let in the UK lifted by 7.4%, or £75, in August compared to the same month a year ago to stand at £1,085 pcm. This time last year rents fell 1% annually.

Southern regions outside of London continued to see the strongest growth. Rents in the South West rose 13.9%, followed by the South East ,12.8%, and the East of England, 10.9%.

The capital saw the weakest growth, with rents up 1.4% annually.

The report says the overall fall in the nation’s total rent bill over the longer term has been sparked by fewer Millennials, people between 25 and 41, renting a home.

The Millennial rent bill has plummeted by 28% over the last three years from £33.3bn in 2017 to £24.0bn this year.

Millennials account for 42% of all rent paid in the UK, down from 55% in 2016.

The report adds, if the current trend continues Millennials could end up paying the same amount of rent as Generation Z, aged between 24 and nine, within five years.

Generation Z’s bid to fly the nest has gathered pace, but has been slower than usual.

The survey says this generation’s total rent bill doubled to £3.6bn over the last year, adding that this figure is likely to double again next year.

But the total amount of rent Generation Z pays is increasing at a slower rate than the Millennials rent bill did.

The report says: “Covid-19 is likely to have worsened this, with more would-be first-time renters staying at home with parents during the pandemic.”

However, among older groups, Generation X, aged between 42 and 56, has a significantly higher rent bill than Baby Boomers, aged between 57 and 75.

The survey says: “This is partly a product of them renting more expensive homes than any other generation.

“But with the average member of Generation X turning 50 this year, those who haven’t already bought are becoming increasingly less likely to do so.”

Hamptons head of research Aneisha Beveridge says: “Leaving home in the middle of a financial crisis, like most Millennials did over a decade ago, made buying a home difficult.

“Collectively, Millennials are likely to have paid more in rent than any other generation.

“But as the oldest Millennials turn 40, their rental bill is now dropping sharply as they become less likely to be a tenant and more likely to own their home.

“We expect Millennial’s collective rental bill to continue dropping sharply for the next couple of years before flattening out as those who want, or are able to buy, have already done so.

“With fewer Millennials renting, the overall amount of rent being paid is falling too.

“In previous years when the number of renters was growing, this figure would have been pushed back up by the next generation flying the nest.

“But Generation Z’s bill is growing more slowly than Millennials’ ever did when they left home.

“While Covid is likely to have prevented many would-be first-time renters moving out of their parents’ home, mortgages for those with small deposits are far more widely available than they were in the five years after 2007.

“This has meant that more Generation Z’s are likely to jump the renting stage and become homeowners, as opposed to Millennials who have had to rent for much longer.”