UK rents on the rise

Rents in the UK have risen by almost three percentage points in the last two months following an increase of 1.2 per cent in September, a new report has shown.

London and the south-east proved to have the strongest growth with increases of 4.5 and 6.5 per cent respectively.

The average monthly rent in the UK now stands at £669 according to the LSL Property Services report.

Despite the increase, rents are still down 2.5 per cent on last year as landlords remain cautious.

Chris Horne, editor of landlord advice specialists Property Hawk, said: "Most landlords are still generally being quite cautious and they are really concentrating on making sure they have got tenants in and reducing any void period.

"There is quite a lot of demand from people that are choosing to rent rather than buy, so that is obviously bolstering rents."

Mr Horne said the rise could also be attributed to new stability in the housing market, adding: "A number of accidental landlords are obviously exiting the market and are being able to sell. That is probably reducing the rental stock which again is firming up the average rents."

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