The rate of rental growth picked up for the sixth month running according to lettings agency Hamptons. 

Across Great Britain rents rose 4.3 per cent last month, up from 4.1 per cent in December.  

The South East topped the growth, recording a 10.0 per cent increase in rents over the last 12 months: this was the first time a region outside London recorded double-digit rental growth since Hamptons’ records began in 2012.

This growth is driven by falling numbers of rental homes on the market, with 14 per cent fewer available than in January 2020.  

With the exception of London, every region recorded double-digit falls in the number of rental homes on the market between January 2020 and last month.

Rental growth in London remained positive for the fourth straight month, rising 1.0 per cent compared to January 2020. However, Hamptons says this growth masks an Inner-Outer divide with Inner London rents falling 15.9 per cent year-on-year and Outer London rents rising 6.2 per cent.  

This pandemic-induced divide means Inner London rents stand just 24 per cent higher than Outer London rents, down from a differential of 100 per cent back in April 2013.

Given the average home in Inner London cost £2,213 per month in January, rents in London’s inner zones now cost 17 per cent less than they did eight years ago in January 2013 when the agency’s index began.