Average UK rents climbed 9.1% over the last year, with tenant costs in London and Scotland outstripping the national figure.
In the capital, rents jumped 11.2%, while north of the border they rose 10.5% over the period, according to rent guarantee Zero Deposits, which analysed April rental price data from the Office for National Statistics.
By contrast, rents have climbed by just 6.1% across the North East over the last 12 months.
But while there is a high degree of regional variation across the rental market, the study shows that it’s a far more level playing field when it comes to the growth seen by property type within each specific region.
Across the UK, the average rental price of a detached property has increased by 8.6% over the last year, while the average cost of renting a semi-detached home is up 8.7%.
Terraced homes have seen growth of 8.5% and while flats have performed the strongest, this rate of growth is only marginally higher at 9.9%.
The report says: “This means there’s just a 1.4% swing between the lowest rate of rental growth — detached homes — and the highest — flats.
“However, at a regional level, this gap closes to 0.8% or less across all regions but one.”
In Scotland, the current rental price of a detached home has increased by 12.9% annually, while terraced home rents have seen growth of just 9.5%, a difference of 3.3%.
This makes Scotland the most uneven rental market when it comes to growth in rental prices.
By contrast, the North West and East of England are home to the most level rental market playing fields, where the gap in rental price growth between the best and worst-performing property types sits at just 0.5%.
Zero Deposit chief executive Sam Reynolds says: “Although renting remains a necessity for a great number of tenants, we’ve seen a distinct lifestyle change in recent years whereby many are renting until far later in life out of choice, due to the greater degree of flexibility it allows them.
“Of course, residing within the rental sector doesn’t put life on hold and as tenants reach certain milestones, such as marriage and children, their rental property requirements evolve.
“So, it’s hardly surprising that we’ve seen a consistent level of rental price growth across the board over the last year and while flats may be the predominant property type of choice for the majority of renters, there’s certainly a greater degree of demand for larger homes suitable for family life.”
