Average asking rents for new tenancies outside London jumped to another record high of �1,172 a month in December - although there are now signs that the pace of growth is starting to ease.

Rightmove reports that average rents for newly listed properties rose by 9.7% in 2022 compared with the previous year, although the last quarter's 0.9% rise compared with the previous three months was the smallest quarterly increase for two years. In contrast, average asking rents in London accelerated, rising by 5.8% and setting a new monthly high of �2,480.

The lack of available properties is also showing signs of easing, as the number available to rent in December was 13% higher than the same period in 2021. New properties coming up for rent were also up 5%.

Renters rise

The number of tenants looking for a property was up by 7% last month compared with the previous year, however, competition between tenants dropped by 6% and by a third (33%) compared with the peak in September. Wales (+15%) and the South West (+13%) have seen the biggest jumps in new properties to rent regionally, which led to a slight drop in respective average asking rents of 1%. It's the first quarterly drop for any region since the start of 2021.

Rightmove's director of property science, Tim Bannister (pictured) says: 'There appears to be some more property choice for renters compared to the record low levels of last year which would slightly ease the fierce competition to secure a home.

"This is why we're forecasting that the pace of annual growth will ease to around 5% by the end of the year nationally, although this would still significantly exceed the average of 2% that we saw during the five years before the pandemic.'�

Read more about rising rents.