Only just over half of UK seeing rent rises

Seven out of 12 UK regions are enjoying rent rises and most of those are extremely small according to the latest research from tenant referencing service HomeLet.

The only exception to the rule is London but that should not mask the reality of generally stagnant rental returns, the firm insists.

London saw a rise of 4.5 per cent in February; the only other regions increasing above 0.7 per cent were Yorkshire and Humberside and the South East, rising 2.2 per cent and 1.1 per cent respectively.

The regions with falling average rents are Scotland (down 0.5 per cent), the North East (down 0.6 per cent), West Midlands (down 1.2 per cent) and East Anglia (down a large 3.9 per cent).

The survey also reveals an underlying change in the type of PRS tenant, too. The average age of a tenant has increased consecutively for the past two years to 34 years old. From this we can see a wider variety of people, such as families and professionals, are deciding to become a tenant, rather than buy explains HomeLet's Gary Abraham.

He says structural changes to the sector being considered by government - the introduction of a model tenancy agreement, a code of practice for letting agents, long-term tenancies and a fees cap - may widen the appeal of the PRS to more people.