Rental costs reach record high
Tenants are paying record levels of rent to landlords according to a new report from LSL Property Services latest buy-to-let index.
Following four successive monthly rises in rental costs and a further increase of 0.5 per cent in May, the average rent in may has increased to £696 a month, from £692 in April.
The LSL report states that the average rental bill has increased by £30 a month from May 2010, a 4.4 per cent rise over the 12-month period.
The average rental yield, the rental income divided by the value of the property, remained at 5.1 per cent for May, another record high level.
Read more: Rental yield: What can a landlord expect to get?
The LSL buy-to-let index reveals that there are large regional variations in the cost of renting. Unsurprisingly, rates have increased fastest in London, by 7.8 per cent in the 12 months to May 2011.
However, rents have fallen in the east of England by 1.2 per cent over the same period. There has also been a slight fall in rental costs in the south-west of England.
The report reveals that the total annual return on a rental property has reached 2.9 per cent.
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