Rents have risen at twice the annual rate of weekly earnings, according to the latest Buy-to-Let Index from LSL.
Average rents across England and Wales stand at £753 per month as of November, up 1.6% compared with November 2012.
By comparison, wages have risen by just 0.8% on an annual basis. Average regular pay before tax stands at £1,941 per month, according to the latest official figures.
Rents across England and Wales remain significantly higher than a year ago, despite a seasonal drop of 0.7% (approximately £5) from October.
There was also annual growth in lettings activity in November. The number of new tenancies agreed across England and Wales increased by 1.5% compared to November 2012.
This was despite a slowdown on a monthly basis, with 6.3% fewer new lettings than in October.
The LSL figures are largely borne out by Sequence, which today reported that its national average monthly rent is now £777, up 10% from last year.
Meanwhile, specialist lender Paragon has said there is no boom in buy-to-let.
John Heron, director of mortgages, said: “This has been a good year for buy-to-let and landlords certainly seem to be more active in the market.
“We expect buy-to-let lending in 2013 to be in the region of £20bn, and whilst this would represent a material level of growth over 2012, we should keep things in perspective.
“This only takes us back to the level of buy-to-let lending that we had ten years ago, and over that period the private rented sector has increased by 80%.
“Any talk of boom conditions in the buy-to-let market would appear to be premature indeed.”
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