Produced by its tenant referencing division, FCC Paragon, the figures show that London and the south east have commanded the highest average rents so far in 2009 with £1163.95 and £885.88 respectively, followed by the east of England with £769.09 and the south west of England with £691.95. The lowest average rent, according to FCC Paragon statistics, was Scotland with £444.57 and Wales at £495.61.
The biggest declines in the average rent for the period 2008 to 2009 was in Scotland with a 24.13% decrease and the south east with a decrease of 16.88% although these areas had seen the highest improvements for the period 2007 to 2008 with an increase of 18.37% and 18.65% respectively.
Only three regions showed an increase in the average rents achieved for the period 2008 to 2009; East Midlands with an increase of 0.18% giving an average rent of £553.11, North East of England with an increase of 3.10% giving an average rent of £527.04 and West Midlands with an increase of 0.31% giving an average of £571.11. Both East and West Midlands had also shown an increase for the year before giving a continuous rise for the whole period.
Janie Gaston, general manager for Paragon Advance, commented: “The Midlands has continued to sustain and even realise increased rents compared to most other regions, despite the overall economic conditions. Our sales manager for the Midlands region, Ian McLaughlin, has reported that there is still a large demand for rented property in the region but, because of the difficulty at the moment getting buy-to-let mortgages, no new stock is coming onto the market, hence sustaining the rent values.”
FCC Paragon carries out an average of 100,000 tenant referencing checks each year.
