According to estate agent Hamptons, the average monthly rent outside London has crossed the £1,000 mark for the first time. Tenants in Great Britain are now paying,

on average, 25% more than they were at the beginning of the Covid pandemic.

Hamptons warned that the rate of rent increases is unlikely to slow down significantly, as landlords are seeking to pass on their rising costs. This could potentially lead some tenants to downsize or move to more affordable areas.

Many landlords with buy-to-let mortgages have experienced significant cost increases due to 12 consecutive interest rate hikes and the turmoil caused by the Truss government's mini-budget last autumn.

In April, the average rent for a newly rented home outside of London reached £1,002 per month, a 7.8% increase (£72) compared to the previous year.

Meanwhile, the rental market in London continues to outpace the rest of the country. Rental growth in the capital stood at 17.2%, well above inflation, with the average monthly rent surpassing £2,200 for the first time last month. This means that the average tenant moving into a new home would pay an additional £3,895 per year.

Across Great Britain as a whole, the average monthly rent increased by 11.1% year-on-year in April, reaching a new high of £1,249. This represents the second-highest figure for rental growth in the country on record, and rents have surged by 25% since the start of the pandemic.

This is one of several surveys highlighting substantial rent hikes, exacerbated by severe property shortages, which further strain households already grappling with the cost of living crisis.

Earlier this year, some city mayors in England called for an immediate rent freeze and a ban on evictions to alleviate the burden on renters.

Some industry experts suggest that the government's renters' reform bill, including a ban on evictions without tenant fault, could prompt more buy-to-let landlords to exit the market, leading to further rent increases.

In the first quarter of this year, average monthly asking rents outside London soared to a record high of £1,190, according to property website Rightmove. In the capital, tenants now pay over £2,500 on average.

Hamptons noted that when it launched its lettings index in February 2013, the average tenant moving into a new home outside London paid £677 per month, £325 less than in April 2023. This represents a 48% increase over the past decade.

Aneisha Beveridge, Head of Research at Hamptons, stated that while affordability constraints may eventually slow down rental growth this year, it is unlikely to decrease significantly due to landlords aiming to offset their rising costs.