If you want a barometer of a stable lettings market, this appears to be it – rents are now rising at about the same as the Consumer Prices Index.

Data from HomeLet suggests  that the average rent in the UK is now £959, up 2.3 per cent on the same time last year.

When London is excluded, the average rent in the UK is now £794, this is up 2.2 per cent on last year. 

Both figures are almost identical to the 2.0 per cent rise recorded in general inflation through the Consumer Prices Index. 

There are, of course, major regional variations with the area showing the largest year-on-year increase being the South West, up 4.5 per cent between July 2018 and July 2019; all of the 12 regions monitored by HomeLet show an increase.

HomeLet’s index measures brand new tenancies only.

And a separate index produced by Countrywide and labelled under its high-end lettings agency brand Hamptons International, suggests that average rents on newly let properties in Great Britain increased 1.9 per cent in July to reach £982 per calendar month.  

Scotland recorded the strongest rental growth (5.2 per cent), followed by the South West (4.7 per cent) and South East (4.0 per cent).  

Meanwhile average rents in London rose 1.9 per cent year-on-year to reach £1,714 pcm, which is some 74 per cent more than the Great Britain average.  

The Midlands was the only region to record rent falls, with average rents decreasing 2.7 per cent year-on-year.