Rents are rising at around twice the level of a year ago according to the latest market snapshot by lettings agency Hamptons.

Despite rental growth across Britain peaking over the summer months, an annual growth figure of 7.2 per cent recorded just last month means that rents were rising at around twice the rate recorded in December 2020.  

For the sixth month running, rents grew faster in the South West (12.8 per cent over the year) than in any other region.  

This growth means that average rents have now surpassed £1,000 per month in all four southern regions of Britain: London more than a decade ago, the South East in July 2016, East of England in December 2020 and now the South West in December 2021.

In recent weeks, rental growth has continued to strengthen in Greater London on the back of a recovery in Inner London according to Hamptons.  

Inner London rents rose 8.6 per cent over the last 12 months, the fastest rate since March 2016.  This leaves the average rent here just 2.0 per cent below where it was on the eve of the pandemic in January 2020.

Rental growth of 3.7 per cent in Outer London has remained considerably more stable, returning to its pre-pandemic trajectory.

Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, says: “With average rents in all four southern regions now surpassing £1,000 per month, the North-South divide in the rental market has never been wider.  

“The recent recovery in London rents, coupled with strong ongoing growth across Southern England has seen the gap in rents between Northern and Southern England grow from 35 per cent or £200 per month to 50 per cent or £350 per month over the last decade.”