Rents in England and Wales rose for the ninth consecutive in October, according to LSL Property Services. The average monthly rent is now £720.

But the rate at which rents are rising has slowed, from September to October the cost of renting a home rose 0.2 per cent – the smallest monthly rise since February.

The steady increase in rents is also leading to a rise in the number of tenants falling behind on payments. In October, 10.1 per cent of all rent paid was either late or not paid at all, compared with 8.6 per cent in September. LSL is predicting this trend will continue into the new year.

Rising rents are a result of an increase in the number of first-time buyers deciding to rent rather than buy pushing up demand for rental housing.

Rents vary across the country, with London remaining the most expensive region. The average rent in the capital is £1,030 – 5.7 per cent higher than a year ago.

Unsurprisingly rents were highest in the south east of England, with a 1.5 per cent monthly rise, with the east of England coming in second with a 0.8 per cent rise. At the other end of the spectrum, rents in the north east fell by 1.4 per cent and in Wales there was a 0.8 per cent fall.

'Despite the slower rate of increase, the cost of renting is still rising annually at nearly twice the speed of the average salary and many tenants will need to dedicate a growing portion of their disposable income to the cost of accommodation over the next year,' says David Newnes, spokesperson for LSL Property Services.

This was written for our sister website, Moneywise