Newly agreed rents are 10.2% higher than a year ago, referencing firm HomeLet has reported.

It says the average rent on a tenancy signed in the first three months of this year was £902 per month, compared with £819 for the same period last year.

Excluding Greater London, average rents across the UK are 6.7% higher than a year ago – the highest rate of annual growth recorded by HomeLet since it started measuring rents in 2008.

Martin Totty, chief executive of HomeLet parent company Barbon Insurance Group, said: “What we are seeing is a market that is experiencing sustained demand from increasing numbers of people requiring privately rented property.”