Rents in England their upward path last month, rising 0.1 per cent to an annual rate of 4.7 per cent according to data from the Office for National Statistics.

“The rapid growth within UK rental prices shows no sign of abating with another annual inflation rise in April” explains Aimee North, the ONS Head of Housing Market Indices.

She continues: “London and Yorkshire and The Humber showed the highest annual rates in England this month, with London experiencing the highest annual percentage increase in over a decade.”

The highest annual percentage change in private rental prices in England over  the 12 months to April 2023 was in London and Yorkshire and The Humber, at 5.0 per cent.

The ONS index shows that while rents increased 4.7 per cent in England, they rose even more elsewhere in the UK – up 4.8 per cent in Wales and 5.2 per cent in Scotland.

Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank comments: “Rents continue to rise sharply as a supply shortage makes life difficult for a growing number of tenants. 

“Politicians have targeted landlords with a series of tax hikes in recent years and as more of them leave the sector, fast-rising rents means the pain has spread to tenants. 

“More details were announced last week on the government’s Renters Reform Bill, which needs to make sure it doesn’t make a bad situation worse. Around a fifth of households in England are renting, which is a lot of voters.”