Half of tenants are struggling to pay bills, a debt charity has warned, as official figures show that rents across Britain rose by 8.9% in the year to April to an average of £1,254 per month.

Today’s Office for National Statistics data shows that annual growth in rental costs has slowed slightly compared to March when it was 9.2%.

London had the highest rental inflation of any English region at 10.8%, with average rents reaching £2,070 in April.

Growth in rental prices in the capital slowed somewhat from a record high of 11.2% in March.

Annual rent inflation was lowest in the North East at 5.8% and average rents were also below all other regions at £666.

On a country basis, rents remain highest in England, where they rose 8.9% annually to an average of £1,293.

Scotland saw the strongest annual growth, with average rents up by 10% to £952 in April.

In Wales, rents climbed by 8.2% year on year to £730.

The most recent data for Northern Ireland is for February and shows an annual rise of 10.4%.

Separate ONS figures today show a 1.8% increase in average house prices.

Research by YouGov for Step Change debt charity found that almost a third of private tenants have used a form of credit to ensure they can afford their rent in the last year and half have found it a struggle to pay bills.

Step Change head of policy and public affairs Peter Tutton says: “We’ve reached a point where renting in the private rented sector (PRS) is increasingly unaffordable, yet the growing scarcity of social housing means that more and more financially or otherwise vulnerable people have no choice but to do so.

“Sky-high rents and wider cost of living pressures mean millions of private renters are scraping by or relying on credit to pay their rent.”

Step Change is calling for a clear timeline for the end of Section 21 evictions under the Renters Reform Bill, as well as further policies to make renting more secure and affordable.