The latest index has revealed that rents in the UK’s private rental sector went up by 2.4% in the year up to June 2016, with Wales the exception as rents in the country went down.
In England, rents went up by 2.5% and in Scotland they rose by 0.1%, however Wales saw a rental fall of 0.1%, according to the most recent findings of the Office of National Statistics (ONS).
In all the English regions over the year to June 2016, rental prices went up, with the biggest increase in rental prices seen in the South East at 3.4%. However, when London is excluded from the data, rents went up by 2%.
The index report shows that since January 2011, rental prices in England have gone up by more than those of Scotland and Wales.
The yearly rate of change in rental prices in Wales has continued to be significantly below that of England and the UK as a whole.
Meanwhile, Scotland has seen rental growth gradually slow down to 0.1% in the year to June 2016, from a 2.1% high at the same time last year.
England’s rental prices indicate three distinct periods: they increased from January 2005 up to February 2009, then fell from July 2009 to February 2010 and increased again from May 2010 onwards.
When London is taken out of the equation, England has shown a similar pattern but with slower increases in price from the end of 2010 and since the start of 2012 rental prices in England have increased annually between 1.4% and 3% year on year.
The South East saw the biggest annual rental price rises with a 3.4% growth, which has not changed from May 2016, with the East of England next on the list with a 3.1% increase, although this is down form the 3.2% figure of May this year.