The cost of renting a home in the UK is rocketing with prices up by a fifth in London since 2011, according to new figures.
Tenants in London have seen their rents grow at twice the national average and rents are now rising at their fastest for two years.
The figures come from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which revealed that outside of London, rents rose by 9.7% in the south-east and 7.3% in the south-west.
Rent increases in the West Midlands were 5.8%, in the East of England, 7.4%, and in the West Midlands rents increased by 6.2%.
Rents grew by 3.3% in Wales and 7% in Scotland.
Elsewhere, rents rose more slowly: in the north-west they rose by 2.8%, in the north-east, 2.9% and in Yorkshire and Humberside rents increased by 3.3%.
Rents see strongest year-on-year growth
In the year to June, rents grew by 2.5% which is the strongest year-on-year growth since January 2013. Since 2011, when the figures were first compiled, rents in the UK have grown by an average of 10.2%.
A spokeswoman for the Money Advice Trust said the figures were a concern and that rent arrears will begin to increase as households struggle with rising housing costs.
The charity Shelter has also voiced its fears and said that many tenants are now paying more than half of their income every month to their landlord in rent.
Alongside growing demand from an increasing population, rents are also being pushed up because of a chronic housebuilding shortage.
However, rents are growing more slowly than property values, according to separate ONS figures, as house prices grew by 5.7% in the past year.
Poor enforcement lets down students
Meanwhile, a lack of enforcement against a small number of rogue landlords is endangering the lives of students, says the Residential Landlords’ Association (RLA).
The RLA fears that students in some properties are at risk because the electrical fixtures and circuits are not safe.
The association points to a recent survey which revealed that 56% of councils said they were struggling to fund their legal obligations – which includes carrying out electrical safety checks in rental properties.
The RLA says that good landlords will ensure their electrics are safe to use in the property while unscrupulous landlords were not as conscientious.
This will, says the RLA, mean that negligent landlords creating a risk for the tenants.
The RLA has now launched a toolkit which helps landlords with clear advice on how to make their home legally compliant and safe.
David Smith is the RLA’s policy director and he said: “It’s important that councils enforce their powers rather than have more regulations to tackle substandard properties.”
