The average rent in the UK is now £918, up by 1.5 per cent on the same time last year according to HomeLet.

When London is excluded, the average rent in the UK is now £761, up by 0.9 per cent on last year.

Average rents in London are £1,588, up 4.5 per cent in the past 12 months – the highest regional year-on-year increase identified in HomeLet’s latest figures.

Meanwhile the region with the largest month-on-month increase was the North East, showing a 2.8 per cent difference between March and April this year.

A recent survey of 3,726 landlords by HomeLet asked buy to let investors whether they planned to increase the rent they were asking on their lettings properties.

Some 17.9 per cent said Yes to increasing rents within the next six months, with another 18.7 per cent saying they would hike rents in the next full year. A further 14.8 per cent say they will increase rents – but not for at least a year.

Meanwhile 31.1 per cent of responding landlords said they would not increase rents at all, and 17.4 per cent were unsure.