Rents in Britain were up 1.8% in the 12 months to April 2017, latest official data shows

Rents in the British private rented sector increased by 1.8% in the 12 months to April 2017, down from 2% in the previous month, the latest official data shows.

In England rental prices increased by 2% and they increased by 0.7% in Wales but in Scotland there was zero growth, according to the figures published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

The annual rate of growth in Wales has not reached 1% since March 2012 and growth has remained around zero since August 2016 while growth in London at 1.4% is below the national average.

The data also shows that between January 2011 and April 2017 rents have increased by 14.6% which the report says has been strongly driven by the growth in private rental prices within London. When London is excluded, private rental prices increased by 10.5% over the same period.

However, the growth in private rental prices has seen signs of a slowdown since the end of 2015, increasing by 1.8% in the 12 months to April 2017 and again the slowdown is mainly driven by a slowdown in London over the same period.

An analysis of the data shows that rental prices in the South and East of England continue to rise at a faster pace than those in the North and the largest annual rental price increases were in the South East at 3.1% but this was down from 3.4% in March 2017.

This was followed by the East of England with a rise of 2.7% but gain this was down from 2.8% in March 2017, then the South West up 2.5%, unchanged from March, and the East Midlands up 2.3%, down from 2.5% in March.

The lowest annual rental price increases were in the North East with a rise of 0.7%, unchanged from March, the North West up 1.3%, also unchanged from March, London up 1.4%, down from 1.6% in March and Yorkshire and the Humber up 1.7%, up from 1.6% in March.