Rents in the UK are at their highest levels since 2016.

With high demand from tenants, the escalating cost of renting has once again reached its highest level since comparable records began in 2016.

Due to a mismatch in supply and demand, there are often fewer rental units available, which has increased expenses for many individuals.

According to the Office for National Statistics, prices paid by UK renters increased by 5.3% on average in the year leading up to July.

The statistics come as budgets for households continue to be squeezed by growing expenses.

In the year leading up to July, the inflation rate, which gauges how the cost of living rises over time, decreased to 6.8%. This was lower than the 7.9% in June, but it is still far higher than the Bank of England's objective of 2%.

One of the main causes of the rent increase is the high demand from renters at the same time as landlords are lowering the number of available homes.

According to information obtained by the BBC from the real estate website Rightmove, the competition among tenants is so fierce that there are 20 requests to visit each available house, up from six in pre-pandemic 2019.

According to the most recent Office for National Statistics (ONS) statistics, the average annual rent rise in the UK increased from 5.2% to 5.3% last month.

The only area where home prices had decreased was London, where rents rose by 5.5%. The rent rose by the most amount since similar statistics for London began in 2006.

The West Midlands, Yorkshire, and the Humber all had the same yearly rent increase.

Analysts have speculated that there may be more increases in the Bank of England's benchmark rate in light of official statistics on wages and inflation. If so, landlords and homeowners would continue to be under pressure from relatively high mortgage rates.

The ONS reported that average UK home prices rose by 1.7% yearly, down from a revised 1.8% gain in May as the market slowed as a result of rising mortgage rates.

(Sources: bbc.co.uk)