For the first time since November 2019, rents in London grew faster than any other region in the country.  

That’s the claim from lettings agency Hamptons, which monitors the rental market each month. 

Average rents across the capital grew 15.7 per cent over the last 12 months, faster than the 13.4 per cent recorded in the South West over the same period.  

The last time London rents were growing quicker than anywhere else was during late 2019 when rents in the capital were up 6.4 per cent over the year compared to 3.9 per cent across Britain.         

Inner London saw rents jump by over a third over the course of the last year, the fastest growth recorded in any region since the Hamptons Lettings Index began in 2012.  

However almost all this growth was generated by the recovery from the falls recorded during the pandemic, with Inner London rents up just 3.1 per cent between January 2020 and May 2022.

Meanwhile across Britain as a whole the average rent rose to £1,152 in May, 11.5 per cent or £119 pcm higher than the same month last year. This marked the first time that rental growth hit double digits since 2012 with growth surpassing the previous record rate set last month of 9.8 per cent.