Figures for January through to March have shown that, by a fairly substantial amount, the Southern region have commanded the highest average rents so far in 2010 with £916.52 for London and the South East, followed by the east of England with £768.48 and the south west of England with £704.13.
According to statistics, produced by Paragons tenant referencing division, FCC Paragon, the lowest average rent was Scotland with £456.36 and Wales with £514.19.
As an increasing number of reports are released stating that rents are on the rise, Paul Abbott, head of property and mortgages, confirmed that although the majority of regions have experienced an increase compared to Q1 2009, some have actually seen a decline in average rents, albeit small. Areas that saw a decline for this period was in the north west of England with a 1.31% decrease and the east of England with a decrease of 0.59%.
All other regions have however experienced an increase with the biggest rise having been in the south west of England with an increase of 4.28%, followed by Scotland with an increase of 3.55% and London and the South East with average rents for the first quarter of 2010 2.19% greater than the corresponding quarter in 2009.
The Midlands, north east of England and Wales have also shown an increase for the year.
Paul commented: “The rental market has remained buoyant for a number of reasons. The number of property transactions for completed sales in the UK is at historically low levels, due in part to average house prices and the house price to earning ratio remaining high. Coupled with the current difficulties in obtaining high loan-to-value borrowing, rental is often the only realistic option for a number of people.”
