Most of UK saw steady rental growth in 2018, led by almost 5% rise in London

Rents in the UK increased by 1.5% in the 12 months to December 2018 to an average of £921 per month, the latest lettings index shows. However, when London is excluded the rise was just 0.7% to an average of £763, according to the data from the HomeLet index, while in London they increased by 4.7% to £1,596. The firm suggests in the index report that the figures show that the private rented market is resilient and in December rents increased in nine of the 12 regions covered. But rents were down by 0.3% month on month. A breakdown of the figures shows that the biggest year on year rise was 4.7% in London while the largest fall was 4.6% in the North East of England to an average of £520 but increased slightly by 0.6% month on month.