Across England, the average cost of renting has increased by 44.4% over the last 10 years, now averaging £1,369 per month.
New research from Tlyfe analysed the latest rental market figures from Gov UK, released this month, looking at which areas of the rental market have seen the sharpest increase in the cost of renting over the last ten years.
The research shows that, across England, average rents have risen by 44.4% over the last 10 years and now average £1,369 per month. Wales has seen a similar rate of growth at 43.9%, although the monthly cost does remain significantly cheaper at £777 per month.
Regionally across England, it’s not London (40.9%) but the East Midlands that has seen the highest increase in the cost of renting, up 51.8% in the last 10 years. The East of England has also seen one of the highest increases (50.4%), whilst the lowest rate of growth has been across the North East (33%).
However, further analysis by Tlyfe shows that when it comes to local rental market growth, it’s Salford that tops the table, with the average cost of renting in the area increasing by a huge 72.4% in the last decade.
Leicester ranks second with an increase of 70.7%, with Folkestone and Hythe (69.1%), South Gloucestershire (69%) and Thanet (67.4%) also making the top five, whilst Bristol (66.1%), Manchester (64.9%), Ipswich (64.5%), Tameside (64.5%) and Stevenage (64.1%) rank within the top 10.
The London Borough of Brent has seen the largest increase of all London boroughs at 58.4%, although it sits at number 25 in the table overall.
In fact, rents have climbed across every single area of the market in England and Wales, with Hartlepool seeing the smallest increase, up by just 14.3% in the last 10 years.
“The cost of renting has only gone one way over the last decade - and that’s up," noted CEO of OpenBrix, Adam Pigott, "Such is the consistent and overwhelming demand for rental properties that we find ourselves facing a severe crisis across the sector and one of the key factors causing this crisis is a lack of available homes to meet demand,"
"Unfortunately, it doesn’t look as though this market imbalance is set to be addressed anytime soon and, if anything, we’ve seen more landlords exit the sector due to consistent legislative changes implemented by the government," he added.
Adam concluded, "It’s the nation’s renters who are left to face the consequences and, for many, the cost of residing within the private rental sector is simply too high, whilst those who are able to stomach it are severely hindered from saving and making the jump to homeownership.”