Tenants have been facing increased rents.

The April HomeLet Rental Index reveals that rents on new tenancies signed on a UK rental property outside London over the three months to April were, on average, 5.1% higher, at £764, than in the same period of last year.

Rents on new tenancies in London were 7.7% higher than a year ago, rising to £1,543.

The latest figures show that rents in Scotland are currently rising faster than anywhere else in the UK at 11.4% to £704 year-on-year.

The east midlands registered a 7.9% annual rise to £646.

Only the north-west saw a fall in new rents by 1% annually to £659.

Martin Totty, of Barbon Insurance Group, parent company of Homelet, said: “It may be that over the next several months, the trends observed in the rental market begin to reflect the signs of some slowdown in the rate of house price growth that we are now beginning to see and that will be something to watch closely.

“But more broadly, there has been very little to alter the fundamental relationship between demand and supply, especially in those parts of the country where demand-side pressure is greatest.

“For now it’s business as usual, which may be better news for landlords than for tenants, though landlords will no doubt be feeling the squeeze too given the various taxation changes they now need to budget for.

“We will have to see whether landlords try to pass their higher costs on, whether buy-to-let property investment diminishes in popularity and whether tenants are able to afford further increases in rents.”