Average rents cross the UK rose by over two per cent for the second quarter in a row during Q3 2022, according to the Deposit Protection Service.

DPS says average rents during Q3 2022 increased by 2.18 per cent to reach £889, an increase of 8.68 per cent over the previous year. 

The organisation also says rents in London have accelerated by 4.24 per cent to £1,499 during Q3 2022 and that average rents in the capital increased by 11.95 per cent between Q3 2021 and Q3 2022. The UK’s current annual inflation rate is 10.1 per cent.

DPS managing director Matt Trevett comments: “Rent increases continued across the UK during Q3 2022 as a result of well-documented shortages in rental stock and general increases in the cost of living.

“Ongoing demand for larger properties in London, as well as flats during the past 12 months is driving the significant rent increases we’re seeing in the capital.

“In order to secure a property, tenants are still willing to pay historically high rents.”

The DPS also says that five regions – Yorkshire, the North West, and East Midlands, as well as Northern Ireland and the East of England – saw rent increases of more than two per cent during Q3 2022.

Rents in Scotland increased by 8.91 per cent to £721 between Q3 2021 and Q3 2022; the organisation adds that rents in the North West increased by 8.98 per cent to £692 during the same period.

Across the UK flats saw the greatest percentage rent increase between Q3 2021 and Q3 2022, up 9.52 per cent from £830 to £909.