Where is the cheapest place to rent in the UK?

The average cost of renting in the UK has fallen for the first time in a decade, according to new figures.

The Deposit Protection Service (DPS), a government-authorised organisation that protects tenancy deposits, found that average monthly rents dropped by £9 from £774 in 2017 to £765 in 2018.

London recorded the biggest fall in cash terms, with the typical rent coming in at £1,294 a month - down £30, or 2.27%, from a year ago. But the capital was still by far the most expensive area for tenants, who paid out more than double the cost than that charged in two-thirds of other regions in the UK.

The cheapest area to rent was the Northeast, at £529, followed by Northern Ireland at £544 and then Yorkshire and the Humber at £546.

“Average wages have risen in 2018, and the percentage of wages spent on rents has dropped by 0.5% to 31%,” said the DPS in its newly published report.

“This is good news for renters, and if average rents continue to decrease or remain static whilst wages continue to climb, this could ultimately make renting more affordable for tenants.”

However, landlords have warned that rents will have to be raised this year in order to “claw back money lost through buy-to-let tax changes and the letting fees ban, which comes into force in June”, reports The Guardian.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) predicted last year that a supply shortage could see rents rise by 15% by 2023.

“The sting in the tail for tenants is that while the DPS recorded rent falls nationally over the first nine months of 2018, it began to see a small uptick in the final three months of the year,” the newspaper adds.

Average private rental prices in 2018