They were up 1% on month and 11% annually to £785 per month, amounting to 41% of the monthly national average wage of £1,937, said the firm which included Barnard Marcus, William H Brown and Fox & Sons.
London rents were £1,484, up 2% on month and up 9% compared with October 2012 which amounts to 44% of the average London monthly wage of £3,338.50.
The index also shows that the supply of new rental property has fallen 4% on month nationally. But it is more acute in London where supplies dropped a record 11% month on month at the same time as demand increased by 2%.
‘We have seen an unprecedented rise in rents over the last month, with tenants now giving up 41% of their monthly pay packet in rent,’ said Stephen Nation, head of lettings at the Sequence Group.
He pointed our that the fast tracked introduction of Help to Buy has done nothing to dampen the strength and rate of growth of the rental market and with the number of properties available to rent still falling short of demand, rents will only continue to rise.
‘The shortage of rental property is particularly acute in London with a record 11% monthly decrease in supply coupled with a 2% increase in rental applications. As a result, rents now represent 44% of the average Londoners monthly salary, putting further pressure on the budgets of those in the capital,’ he explained.
He also pointed out that despite a 55% increase in buy to let mortgage applications, prospective investors are facing stiff competition for property from private buyers and are often unable to secure their investment property.
‘Across the board whether it is in the sales or rental market there is a universal need for more properties.
Competition for houses will continue to impact on affordability and squeeze household budgets across the country for the foreseeable future,’ he added.
