Tenants 'face 6.3% annual rent rise'

The average rent was up 6.3% in the year to the end of September, to £816 a month, said the owner of letting agents Your Move and Reeds Rains.

The survey said the cost of renting rose 1.6% between August and September.

London (up 11.6%) and the East of England (up 8.8%) saw the biggest rises over the year to the end of September. 

House price surveys have suggested that property values rose by between 3.8% and 8.6% over the same period in the UK.

Campbell Robb, chief executive of charity Shelter, said: "These figures highlight the plight of an entire generation stuck in insecure and expensive private renting, unable to put down roots in a home of their own."

He called on the government to do more to build affordable homes.

The latest figures from the official statistics authority suggest that private rental prices paid by tenants in Britain rose by 2.5% in the 12 months to June.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) releases figures on the rental sector every three months.

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