Startling new housing market data has been interpreted as “torment for tenants” according to a business analyst.

The latest Halifax house price index shows values up 13 per cent in the past year – the highest price growth since 2004.

According to Hargreaves Lansdown, this means that renters saving for a 10 per cent deposit would have had to raise an extra £1,885 since January, just to stand still.

Sarah Coles, senior personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, says savings for most people cannot keep pace with house price inflation. 

“Eventually the reality of rising prices will take its toll on confidence and cool the market, but we’re not there yet, and renters are paying the price.

“Since the beginning of 2022, house prices have risen £18,849, so just to stand still, renters saving for a 10 per cent deposit would have had to add almost £1,900 to their savings pot. Given the fact that hikes in the cost of everything from food to fuel have been unbearably painful since the start of the year, this is an impossible challenge.

“Rising prices may make homeowners feel wealthier, but they’re pushing renters further into the mire. Almost a fifth of people rent privately and a similar number live in social rented housing so more than a third of people are  facing unbearable pressure as prices rise” she claims.

Hargreaves Lansdown’s own Savings and Resilience Barometer, produced with Oxford Economics, shows that renters are less financially resilient on almost every measure than their home owning counterparts. 

They have less money left over at the end of the month, less in emergency savings, they’re more likely to be in arrears with bills and debts, and they’re not on track for a financially-comfortable retirement. 

“So while homeowners will be keeping their fingers crossed for a gentle tapering of house prices, and a return to more sedate price rises, there will be renters who can’t help hoping for prices to back off, to at least give them a chance of getting out of the rental cycle and taking a breather on the bottom rung of the housing ladder” Coles concludes.