Residential rents across Britain are rising at their fastest rate on record as high interest rates shut would-be buyers out of the property market.
Monthly rental costs are on average 12% higher than they were this time last year, up £140 to breach £1,300 for the first time, according to Hamptons.
Separate research from property website Rightmove suggests that more than a third of homes for sale have had their asking prices reduced as vendors try to drum up demand.
Rents across the UK have increased by 29%, or nearly £300 a month, since the beginning of the pandemic.
Rents have increased by 17.1% in the past year in London. In Scotland rents are up 13.4% year-on-year, meaning that for the first time it is more expensive to rent a home north of the border than in the Midlands. Rents in Wales have had the weakest growth, having risen by only 3.4%.
