The average rent in England has reached an all-time high, surging past £1,300 for the first time.

Higher demand which continues to outstrip supply, combined with monthly increases in interest rates have been blamed for the unprecedented rise.

According to the Goodlord Rental Index, in July, the average rent in England was £1,367 per property.

It represents a 19% increase on June’s averages when rents were at £1,148 per property. It is also 9.4% higher than the previous record set in September 2022 of £1,249.

Overall, while the West Midlands saw modest increases compared with the rest of the country, it is still the cheapest region for renters with Greater London the most expensive.

Records have also been broken with the numbers of void periods dropping by 44% to their shortest ever of an average of just nine days in July.

This is down from 16 days in June. The previous record was set at 10 days in July 2022.

The highest voids were recorded in the West Midlands at 14 days, a decrease of 22% compared to June. The North East and South West saw the lowest voids with Greater London seeing the smallest month-on-month change with a 21% reduction from 14 to 11 days.

Sheldon Bosley Knight’s lettings manager Josh Jones said: “It is not surprising void periods are decreasing while rents soar.

“The lack of supply is one of the biggest issues affecting the private rental sector and until there is more stock in the system, this won’t change.

“Rising interest rates, which will fuel an increase in mortgage costs, are only going to make things worse as many landlords will have no option but to pass on their costs to tenants.

“Here at SBK we have plenty of prospective tenants looking for a rental property so if you are a landlord please do get in touch and one of our lettings teams will be happy to help.”