Residential rents across Britain are rising at their fastest on record as high interest rates shut would-be buyers out of the property market.
Monthly rental costs are on average 12 per cent higher than they were this time last year, up £140 to breach £1,300 for the first time, according to the estate agent Hamptons.
Separate research from the property website Rightmove suggests that more than a third of homes for sale have had their asking prices reduced as vendors try to drum up demand.
“Each passing month has ushered in a new rental market record,” Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, said. “Rents have risen more in the last 12 months than they did between 2015 and 2019.”
Rents across the UK have