Rents hit fresh high as lack of homes available continues

Average rents have continued to hit new highs, according to property website Rightmove, as the shortage of available properties continues.

Asking rents outside London have reached a record of £1,190 a month on average, Rightmove said, while in London they have risen above £2,500.

Rents have been pushed up by fierce competition among tenants chasing a limited number of homes to rent.

Rightmove said there were signs of more properties coming on to the market.

However, while the number of properties available to rent between January and March was up 8% from a year earlier, the number was still nearly half that seen in 2019.

The gap between the number of tenants seeking properties and the homes available to rent also narrowed, Rightmove said, but it still remained "near record levels".

It added that average asking rents for new tenants outside London have now risen for 13 consecutive quarters.

"We have seen some early signs of improvement on squeezed supply levels this year, though with no significant influx of new properties becoming available to rent currently on the horizon, the mismatch is set to continue for some time," said Tim Bannister from Rightmove.

"Many agents are having to manage a very high volume of tenant enquiries for every property that they let in the current market."

What are your renting rights?

• How much can my landlord increase the rent? It depends on your agreement but rises must be fair, realistic and in line with local properties and there's usually a month's notice.

• Can my landlord evict me? Landlords need to follow strict rules such as giving written notice. Once the notice period ends, the landlord can start eviction proceedings through court.

• Can a landlord refuse people on benefits? No. DSS policies are unlawful discrimination, says charity Shelter. Some councils have lists of private landlords who rent to tenants claiming benefits.

There's more on your renting rights and where to go for help here.

Last month, figures shared with the BBC by property website Zoopla showed the number of homes available to rent in the UK had fallen by a third over the past 18 months.

Meanwhile, the latest survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors found the proportion of its members reporting growth in demand among tenants had reached a five-month high in March.

It also added that the mismatch between demand and supply was consistent all across the UK.

Last week, one estate agent said that the lack of properties to rent was partly due to a generation of landlords with buy-to-let mortgages deciding to retire and sell up.

Hamptons Estate Agents estimated about 140,000 people who bought property in the 1990s to rent out sold them last year to fund their retirements, and new landlords were not filling the gap left behind.

How is the rising cost of rent affecting you? Get in touch.