Tenant referencing firm HomeLet has reported that demand for rental properties remaining high and that the UK as a whole has experienced a 13.9% growth in rental values (12.5% when London is excluded) over the past five years.

The average rent in the UK is now £941, up by 1.8% (£17) on the same time last year.

The region with the largest year-on-year increase is Northern Ireland, showing a 4.7% (£30) increase on the same time last year.

When London is excluded, the average rent in the UK is now £781, this is up by 1.8% (£14) on last year. Average rents in London are now £1,611, up by 0.9% (£15) on last year.

All 12 of the regions monitored by HomeLet showed an increase in rental values between June 2018 and June 2019.

The average duration of tenancy for rented properties in June 2019 was 30.7 months, down from 32.1 for the same month last year.

Martin Totty, chief executive of HomeLet, said; “Since the beginning of the year we have observed a gradual decline in the year-on-year variations in London rents, which reflects what is also being observed in the London housing market thus far in 2019.

“What is most striking about the latest data is the consistency of rental prices we are seeing across the whole UK, with all regions recording a continued year-on-year increase. This is a continuation of the theme we’ve been seeing since mid-2017 as rents have continued to edge up.

“One point of interest in the data is that the average duration of a tenancy has reduced to 30.7 months, from 32.1 months in the same month last year. Whilst this isn’t a significant reduction, the drop does coincide with the introduction of the Tenants Fee Act in England and could be a very early indication of more mobility amongst tenants. It will be interesting to observe what prices do throughout the whole country in the coming months.”