Newly agreed rents across the UK, excluding London, now average £743 a month, 3.8% higher than a year ago.

Rents on new tenancies in London average £1,544 a month, 7.5% up on a year ago and 108% higher than the rest of the UK.

Despite the annual gains, in most of the UK new rents were flat or fell slightly, and in London were down 1% in the three months to November.

The figures are from tenancy referencing firm HomeLet.