High demand pushed the average monthly rent on a newly-let property outside London past £1,000 for the first time, data from Hamptons shows.
Average rents for these homes lifted 7.8% to £1,002 per calendar month in April compared to a year ago, says the estate agent.
It adds the average rent now tops £1,000 pcm in three of the 10 regions outside of London — East of England, South West and South East.
Across the UK as a whole, rents rose 11.1% year-on-year in April to hit a new record of £1,249 pcm.
The report says: “This marked the second strongest month for rental growth across the country on record, only to be outpaced by the annual increase of 11.5% recorded in May 2022.”
UK rents across have risen 25% since the eve of the pandemic in February 2020, costing the average tenant an extra £2,962 each year.
The study says that London continues to post the strongest rental growth.
The average rent on a new let in Greater London hit £2,210 pcm in April, 17.2% higher than the same month last year.
This meant that April also marked the first time that the average monthly rent in the capital topped £2,200 pcm, which will cost the average tenant an extra £3,895 a year if they were to move into a new rental home.
Despite this, rental growth across London since the health crisis has lagged most of the country.
The average rent in inner London has risen 21% since February 2020, while in Outer London it’s up 22%. The South West, North West and North East have recorded the strongest growth since then, with rents up 31%.
Last month, average rents hit new records in seven out of the UK’s 11 regions. Wales, the South West and the North East were the only regions where average rents remained slightly below their peak.
Hamptons head of research says Aneisha Beveridge: “It was back in July 2020 that the average rent across the whole of Great Britain (including London) last passed the £1,000 pcm mark.
“But just 34 months later, soaring rents since Covid have meant that the average rent in the regions outside of London has passed that same milestone.
“While rents nationally saw their second biggest annual rise in April, they’ve still failed to keep pace with wider inflation for nine of the last 12 months.
“With rents on the open market rising quickly, tenants will face the choice of staying put or moving to a smaller home in a more affordable area.
“While anyone choosing to sit tight tends to face smaller rental increases than those moving home, they are not immune.
“Affordability constraints will likely hit the brakes on rental growth at some point this year, however, it’s unlikely to slow considerably due to the number of landlords looking to pass on their rising costs.”
