The rate of rental growth has almost gone a whole year without exceeding inflation, figures show.

Data from insurance and referencing provider HomeLet shows that rents on new tenancies in the UK rose on average just 0.7% annually in November, the 11th successive month in which rental price inflation has lagged the general rate of inflation.

The average rent agreed on a new tenancy signed in November was £904 according to the November HomeLet Rental Index, compared to £898 in the same month of last year.

With the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics showing that inflation in the UK, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), currently stands at 3.1%, November’s data means that rents have reduced in real terms for almost the whole of 2017.

The last time that average rental price growth exceeded inflation was December 2016, when the HomeLet Rental Index recorded an increase of 1.7% against a CPI reading of 1.6%.

There are regional variations, with the East Midlands, Northern Ireland, the South-West and the North-East of England all recording annual rental price inflation in excess of 3% during November.

In contrast, new rents fell in Greater London, the East and South-East of England.

The monthly figures tell a different story, though, with rents down in 10 out of 12 regions, falling 0.6% across the UK.

Even the East Midlands, which had the highest annual growth of 4.4%, saw rents fall 0.5% on a monthly basis to £615 a month.

The biggest monthly decline was in London, down 1.7% to £1,530.

Martin Totty, chief executive of HomeLet, said: “So far this year we have seen very modest rental price inflation.

“Rents are now higher than a year ago in most parts of the country, but there has been no return to the more rapid increases we last saw during the first half of 2016.

“HomeLet’s monthly data continues to support a picture of modest increases in rents over 2017 and, in most instances, a reduction in real terms against the backdrop of underlying higher inflation.”