Rents in England and Wales increased by 3% in the 12 months to February 2018 to an average of £857, the latest index data shows.
Annual growth was led by the East of England and the East Midlands with both regions recording a rise of 2.9% while only two regions saw rents fall, according to the Your Move tracker report.
The average rent in the East of England now stands at £894, the highest outside of London, while in the East Midlands a typical property is let for £652. London and the North Est saw rents fall.
It means that the North East now has the cheapest rents in England, down 2% to £535 over the course of the last year. While London has the highest at £1,276, the average is down by 0.3% year on year.
February 2018 saw the returns delivered to landlords and other property investors remain exactly the same as the previous month. After a year where many landlords saw their yields squeezed, Your Move has now reported no further falls during the first two months of 2018, with average yields at 4.4% nationwide.
However, year on year yields have dropped slightly by 0.3% from 4.63%. Once again, northern regions offered the best returns to investors, with the North East recording an average yield of 5%, the highest, followed by the North West at 4.9%.
At the other end of the scale, landlords in London saw the smallest percentage return at 3.2%, down 0.29% annually. The other areas with low percentage returns were the South East and South West regions, which both recorded an average of 3.3%.
‘Areas outside of London continued their strong recent growth, with impressive performances in the East of England and the East Midlands. Landlords are also enjoying more stability than they have been in recent times,’ said Martyn Alderton, national lettings director at Your Move.
‘This suggests that a recent squeeze on landlords’ profits could be coming to an end, which is good news for those looking to invest during 2018,’ he added.
