Buy-to-let landlords have seen rents rise 1.3% in a year, according to May 2019 data.
The underlying figures vary across the country. Tenants in England are paying 1.3% more, while those in Wales are paying slightly less - at 1.1%.
The figures from the Office for National Statistics are the latest available and cover the year ending May 31.
Regional rents are outpacing London, which is still recovering from a slowdown in 2016, says the ONS.
Rents in the capital were up 0.9% year-on-year but increased 0.5% from April 2019.
The annual increase is the highest rate London has seen since September 2017 and may signal a resurgence for landlords, says the ONS.
Excluding London, rents in England and Wales increased by 1.5%. Since January 2019, the rate of increase has stuck at 0%.
The East Midlands saw the most significant annual rent increase (2.1%), unchanged from April 2019. Next was the South West (2.0%), up from 1.7% in April 2019 and Yorkshire and The Humber (1.8%), unchanged since February 2019.
The lowest annual rent increase was in the North East, where prices increased by 0.5% from 0.4% in April 2019, followed by London.
Read the full ONS report.
