Private rents rise 4.9% year on year, ONS reveals

The South East had the lowest figure in England at 4.2%, which is still a record high for that region.

Prices in Wales increased by 4.4%, while Scotland saw a rise of 5.1%.

Data for Northern Ireland are carried forward from January 2023, as figures for the past two months are not yet available.

Northern Ireland saw an increase of 9.9% – higher than the rest of the UK and its biggest percentage change since records began in 2016.

Rightmove and HomeLet also recorded annual price increases in March 2023 of 10.2% and 9.8% respectively. Zoopla reported a figure of 10.9% in February 2023.

A report published by the Association of Residential Letting Agents in March noted that no movement had been seen in the number of properties available to rent, with an average of 10 prospective tenants registering per available property.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said in March that its survey data showed that the vast majority of the UK saw strong demand, while there remained few new landlords.

The ONS expects all parts of the UK to see further rent increases over the next year.

In response to the figures, Dan Wilson Craw, acting director of Generation Rent, told Inside Housing: “Rising rents are forcing renters to make painful sacrifices, moving further away from family, enduring longer commutes or living in cramped conditions just to keep a roof over their head.

“Many landlords are trying to cash in on higher rents in the market by asking for unaffordable increases. If the Renters’ Reform Bill is to deliver security for renters, we need limits on what landlords can increase the rent by.

“We also need a much bigger effort from the government to build homes – particularly social housing – in the places people want to live.”

The ONS also released data showing a slowdown in the annual growth rate of UK house prices.

Average house prices rose by 5.5% in the year to February 2023, down from 6.5% in January 2023.