Rent prices hit record-high levels with costs up 20% in some areas

Rent now 40 per cent higher than a decade ago, compared to mortgage price rises of 13 per cent for same properties

The price of renting a home has soared to its highest level since records began 16 years ago (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

The average cost of renting a home in the UK has hit a record high, with prices skyrocketing by more than 20 per cent in some areas, according to new figures.

Monthly rent is now an average of 11.8 per cent higher than a year earlier for properties advertised outside of London, and is nearly 20 per cent – or £177 – higher than at the start of the pandemic, statistics from Rightmove show.

In the capital itself, the picture for renters is even starker, with average monthly rents soaring to an eye-watering record high of £2,257, following a rise of 15.8 per cent described by the property website as “the highest ever annual rate of any region”.