Rightmove has revealed that the average asking rent outside London reached a new record high of £1,190 per month.
The data also showed that asking rent prices across Britain, excluding London, have risen every quarter since the end of 2019.
In London, average asking rents surpassed £2,500 for the first time, hitting a new record of £2,501 per month in Q1 2023.
Rightmove’s director of property science, Tim Bannister, stated: “We have seen some early signs of improvement on squeezed supply levels this year, though with no significant influx of new properties becoming available to rent currently on the horizon, the mismatch is set to continue for some time.”
Bannister noted that properties in popular areas with affordable asking rents are being snapped up almost immediately, and homes are finding tenants much more quickly than in 2019.
He added: “Although there are some early signs that the gap between supply and demand is starting to narrow a little, it will still feel very competitive for tenants trying to secure a home.”
Iwona Hovenko, real estate analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said challenges continue to face the rental market.
She explained: “Unfortunately for tenants, the rental supply-demand imbalance is only likely to worsen in the near-term future, as smaller private landlords exit the sector due to high taxation, interest rates, and the steep costs to bring their properties to at least EPC band C in the next few years.
“Shortage of qualified labour and the still-high prices of materials may make that job even tougher. Moreover, the same factors are also hitting the supply of new homes.”
Hovenko also mentioned that the ranks of renters may continue to expand due to potential buyers being priced out by high interest rates, lower mortgage affordability, and squeezed disposable incomes.
She said: “Some would-be buyers may have also shelved their purchase plans while waiting for house prices to fall. All of these factors may be exacerbating demand for rental housing at a time when supply is likely to shrink further.”
