Government figures from the Office for National Statistics show average rents in privately let homes across Britain rose by an average of 2.3 per cent in the year to September. 

The ONS points out that official inflation over the same period was 1.0 per cent.

Unsurprisingly southern England saw the largest rent rises – up 3.5 per cent over the year in the south east, followed by 3.0 per cent in the East of England region.

The breakdown for the national regions show that average rents grew 2.5 per cent over the 12 month period in England – Welsh rents increased just 0.1 per cent while in Scotland they actually fell slightly by 0.1 per cent.

“Residential house price growth in Britain has typically been stronger than rental price growth, with an average 12-month rate of house price inflation between January 2014 and August 2016 of 7.3 per cent, compared with 2.1 per cent for rental prices” says the ONS.