Rents across England and Wales rose faster in July than in any month since records began in 2009.

The latest Buy-to-Let Index produced by agents Your Move and Reeds Rains shows rents rose from £789 in June to £804 in July – a 1.9% jump.

Tenants are now also paying on average 6.8% more than they were a year ago – the largest annual rise on record.

The record-breaking increase has been driven, says the Index, by record rents in Yorkshire & The Humber, the East and West Midlands, and in London.

Adrian Gill, director of Reeds Rains and Your Move, said: “Just when you think the rental market is accelerating at full throttle, it finds a way to shift into a higher gear.

“We’re seeing rent rises manage to hit record-breaking speeds on both monthly and yearly timeframes as far back as data can go.”

Compared to this time last year, rents are up across all regions.

In the West Midlands they are up 3.6% in 12 months, bringing the average rent in the region to £583. There was a similar rise in the East Midlands, with a 2.5% annual increase bringing rents up to £584.

People renting in Yorkshire & The Humber now pay on average £582 following a record 2% year-on-year rise.

In London, meanwhile, a massive 12% year-on-year rise has seen monthly rent jump to £838 on average.

Only two regions saw rents fall on a month-by-month basis, Wales and the East of England, where rents dropped by 0.1%.

Gill added: “The fact that rents are purring along at higher-than-ever speeds is a sign that the rest of the economy is picking up.

“An engine can’t use fuel it doesn’t have. These rent rises are a reflection of heavier wage packets being fed back into economy now that the rust from the recession has been cleaned off the cogs.”

The proportion of rent in arrears has improved from 8.4% in July compared to 8.6% in June. However, it is still well above the 7.3% figure of July last year.