Rents across England and Wales rocketed to £816 per month in September, the highest level on record, according to research from estate agents Your Move and Reeds Rains.
While inflation fell below zero last month, average rents rose 1.6% between August and September.
With rents up 6.3% from £768 in September 2014, the hike means tenants will now need to find around £48 more a month to pay their rent compared to last year.
Rents rose everywhere across the UK, apart from Wales, where they fell 5.4% to £536, and the North West and the North East, where they dropped around 0.5%.
Rents also hit individual regional records in London, the South East, the South West, and the East and West Midlands
London saw the biggest increase of 11.6% on an annual basis to a record £1,301 per month, overtaking the East of England, where rents are up 8.8% over the last 12 months.
In the East Midlands rents are now 6.7% higher than a year ago, at £603 per month, while the West Midlands rose to £592 per month, 5.2% higher than last year.
The South West saw rents rise 5.5% to £691 per month, while rents in the South East now average £831 per month, up 3.6% from September 2014.
Landlords have also seen the value of their properties rise more quickly.
In England and Wales, landlords saw returns of 9.4% over the 12 months to September 2015, a rise of 8.9% from August 2015. This has given them a return of £16,952 in absolute terms, before deductions such as maintenance and mortgage payments are taken into account.
Adrian Gill, director of estate agents Reeds Rains and Your Move, said: “Rents are rising strongly in real terms due to the recent acceleration in wages, and the much deeper and longer-term shortage of available properties across the UK – of all tenures.
“Meanwhile, as the price of everyday essentials plateaus and even falls, rents are no longer following the same broad trends. The cost of a place to live has now uncoupled from the cost of living. As long as this supply and demand imbalance keeps up, it is hard to see any reversal in the speed of rent rises.”
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