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According to the latest official data, buy-to-let rents bounced back to record levels after a nine-month dip.
Average UK private rents were up by 9.0 per cent in the 12 months to December 2024.
Although growth nudged down from 9.1 per cent year-on-year to November 2024, levels hovered just below the record-high annual rise of 9.2 per cent seen in March 2024.
Average rents increased to £1,369 (9.2 per cent) in England, £777 (8.5 per cent) in Wales and £991 (6.9 per cent) in Scotland in the 12 months to December 2024.
In England, rent inflation was highest in London (11.5 per cent) and lowest in Yorkshire and The Humber (5.4 per cent) from 12 months to December 2024.
The Office of National Statistics rent report explained: “The annual rise in England was slightly lower than the record-high annual growth seen in the 12 months to November 2024 (9.3 per cent).
“Wales's annual inflation rate has been generally slowing since the record-high annual rise of 9.8 per cent in November 2023.”
The data also revealed rent rises in London and the North West were more than the UK average.
Research by London property consultancy Hamptons argues high mortgage interest rates have forced young adults to rent.
Hamptons says that for most of the last ten years, older households that did not buy a home in their 20s and 30s pushed the growth of the private rented sector.
According to the English Housing Survey, between 2013-14 and 2023-24, the number of renters over 45 rose by 24 per cent, from 1.43 million to 1.77 million.
Meanwhile, government-backed homeownership schemes, including Help to Buy, alongside low interest rates, helped the number of households aged under 45 and renting fall by 1 per cent over the last 10 years - from 3.45 million to 3.43 million - despite the population increasing.
Figures also confirm that the number of renters under 45 rose by 149,000 to 3.4 million in the past year.
Hamptons warns that higher Stamp Duty Land Tax rates from April will likely fuel more rental growth in the coming months.
Hamptons head of research Aneisha Beveridge said: “There are strong signs that the recovery in stock levels has peaked, given numbers were up 34 per cent year-on-year back in January 2024. The number of homes on the market still stands 13 per cent lower than during the same time in 2019, a figure which has trended downwards in recent months and is likely to put pressure on rental growth in 2025.”