In the 12 months to December private rental prices paid by tenants increased by 1.4%.
Private rental prices paid by tenants rose by 1.4% in the 12 months to December, the ONS Index of Private Housing Rental Prices has found.
Rental growth have been on the rise since the end of 2018, driven by strengthening growth in London.
In the 12 months to December, rental prices for the UK excluding London increased by 1.5%.
London private rental prices rose by 1.2% in the same time period.
Mary-Anne Bowing, managing director at Ringley, said: “Today's ONS figures show the resilience of the UK rental market, with steady rental growth across the board despite a turbulent year politically thanks to Brexit.
“While the ONS stats show more subdued growth than other indices, all regions recorded positive growth.
“If wages continue to rise, which they should given the UK's tight labour market, we can expect rents to continue growing as well.
“For the institutional investors like pension funds and insurers looking to enter the UK rental market in search of steady income streams to match their liabilities, today's figures are good news.
“Similarly, for buy-to-let landlords it shows there is money to still be made in rental property even if they face a tougher regulatory and tax environment.”
Franz Doerr, founder and chief executive atflatfair, added: "The continued rise of rental prices across the country is impacting renter's abilityto access the homes that they really want.
“And as rents rise towards £1,000 pcm on average, so do the upfront coststhat people have to scrape together every time they move.
"There needs to be action taken at both government level and within the propertyindustry to reduce the burden of renting.
“The technology already exists to help renters, such asflatfair’s deposit alternative that strips away the need for onerous upfront rental costs, whilst offering unrivalledprotection for landlords from any damages or rent arrears.
“Renting can be fairerfor everyone if we embraceexisting tech-driven platforms that are transforming renting."
Focussing on the English regions, the largest annual rental price increase was in the South West at 2.2%.
This was followed by the East Midlands (2.1%), Yorkshire and the Humber (1.9%) and the East of England (1.5%).
The lowest annual rental price growth was in the North East where prices increased by 0.5%.
