Newly agreed rent prices are falling across much of the UK, referencing firm HomeLet said this morning.

Its data appears in contradiction with the LSL report on rent prices published on Friday, but whereas LSL reports on all rents, HomeLet reports only on new rental agreements.

In this case, it is reporting on new rents agreed in October.

It says that in seven out of 12 UK regions, rents slipped on a monthly basis.

The steepest fall was 9.3% in the south-west, but sizeable falls were also recorded in East Anglia (5.4%), London (down by 3.8%), the north-east (3.8%) and south-east (3.1%).

Overall, UK rents slipped by 4.3% during the month. The average new rent is now £878, or £708 if you exclude London.

While new rents in all regions are up on a year ago, there are big differences, ranging from an annual rise of 0.9% in Northern Ireland to one of 11.7% in the west midlands.

Overall, annual rises across the UK stand at 7.5%, or 4.9% if you exclude London.

In London, the average rent of £1,413 is more than double that of the £700 average in Edinburgh, and over three times that of the average £462 rent in Cardiff. However, Cambridge’s average rent of £1,028 is chasing London’s levels.