Average private rents hit record highs with 25% rise in hotspots, data shows

Average private rents in Great Britain have climbed to record highs, with the amount tenants are being asked to pay in some hotspots rising more than 25% in a year, data shows.

- Rupert Jones

The typical advertised private rent outside London for properties coming on to the market rose to a record £1,385 a calendar month in the third quarter of this year, according to the property website Rightmove.

The average London rent reached a new high of £2,736.

The site said it was the third consecutive quarterly record for advertised rents this year, adding that affordability for would-be tenants “remains very stretched”. Despite average earnings rising by 5% compared with last year, the cost of renting was swallowing up 44% of the average wage - up from 40% five years ago.