Over 50% of renters have experienced an increase

Latest ONS data has indicated that 51% of properties surveyed had seen a rent increase in the year to February. In London, this was 67%, in the South East 62% and in the South West 53%.

Among those with rising rents, the average hike was 10% – up from 7% a year earlier. In London this was 12% and in the North West 11%.

A fifth (18%) of properties surveyed had seen a rise of 10% or more – this rose to a third (33%) in London.

Commenting on the figures Sarah Coles, Head of Personal Finance at Hargreaves Lansdown said “Runaway rents are crushing the finances of those trapped in increasingly expensive homes. More than half of tenants have seen their rents hiked in the past year, and on average they’re up 10%. It’s no wonder that they face such huge challenges to make ends meet – let alone get onto the property ladder.”

“The figures in London are particularly painful, with more than two thirds of rents hiked an average of 12%. Given that private renting is far more common in London – at 29% compared to an average of 19% – the impact is felt even more widely.”

“Runaway rents hit hard, because while yesterday’s Family Resources Survey showed that the average rent is the same as the average mortgage – at £150 a week – it makes up a much higher proportion of the income of renters, because they tend to be on lower wages.”

“When this is added to a hoard of price hikes bearing down on renters – from energy to food and even tax – it’s easy to see why the HL Savings & Resilience Barometer shows that renters are worse off across the board than their home-owning counterparts. Some 58% have poor or very poor financial resilience – compared to 18% of those with a mortgage and 11% of those who own outright.”