An online rental platform warns the average rent bill could reach as much as £2,270/month if prices rise in line with the hikes already seen across other living costs. 

Numerous factors, foreign and domestic, continue to have a direct impact on living costs.

The price of rent, however, has not yet matched the increasing costs seen across other areas of life. In the past year, the average cost of a month’s rent in the UK has increased by £98, rising from £1,061 in 2021 to £1,159 in 2022. This is an annual increase of 9.2 .

While this is certainly a notable rise, Ocasa rental platform warns it’s far less than the  rate of increase of other living costs.

In the past year, the average price of energy has increased by 95.8 per cent. If rent had experienced the same annual increase, it would now cost £2,269/month. 

In London – the UK’s most expensive rental market at £1,752/month is 2021 – a 95.8 per cent hike would bring the price up to £3,808/month.

In the South East, such an increase would mean that prices increased from £1,139 to £2,422, and even in the UK’s most affordable rental market, the North East, rent would now cost £1,192. 

The past months have also seen a sharp rise in inflation rates – up 9.9 per cent.

The same rise in rent would leave the national average at £1,274/month while prices in London (£2,138), the South East (£1,359), and the North East (£669) would also leave renters significantly worse off.  

Ocasa sales director Jack Oadby says: “It can only be a matter of time before this area of life also strains household finances as landlords raise rents in order to compensate for their own cost increases in both their personal and professional lives. 

“Many households who are already bracing for a very harsh winter are likely to be under even more strain before Spring 2023 and we expect that the cost of renting may well be yet another household outgoing driving this financial strain.”