Earlier this month, research from Halifax suggested that Britain is increasingly becoming a nation of renters, with the high costs involved with buying a home acting as a barrier to property market entry in the country.
However, while some regions of the UK continue to perform strongly, landlords have been warned that there are large regional differences in terms of achieved rents across the country.
Rents increased significantly in the West Midlands but fell further in the North West, the HomeLet Rental Price Index has revealed. The largest regional variation in the UK shows a six per cent increase in rents for the West Midlands, but a five per cent decrease in the North West.
Rented accommodation in London cost 0.42 per cent more in May than April, the report added. However, the figure represents the slowest rate of growth seen so far this year.
Overall, the average agreed rental amount fell by GBP 1 in May, when compared to April and now stands at GBP 747 per month. Despite this fall, rents remain considerably higher than May 2010.
Elsewhere, HomeLet found that there was a month-on-month growth in the percentage of tenants who were previously owner occupiers, highlighting a growing trend of new landlords looking to take advantage of the growing trend of renting.
The Homelet Rental Index claims to be unique because of the size of its sample and because for the first time it quotes actual rents agreed and not advertised rents.
It takes data each month from over 3,000 lettings agents across the UK and provides tenant demographics plus additional information including data surrounding tenants age and gender.
Homelet plans to expand the index on feedback from customers. Additions could include data about tenants with county court judgments, the length of tenancies, and tenant income.