RENTAL prices across the West Midlands are now on average £933 per calendar month, putting it halfway in the league tables for the cheapest and most expensive places to live.
The figures, revealed by HomeLet, show prices are 8.74 per cent higher than this time last year.
The rent to income ratio is now 29.7 per cent meaning renters, on average, pay almost a third of their earnings each month to be in their property.
The average UK rental price is now £1,276 per month meaning the West Midlands is £343 below that.
When London is taken out of the equation, the average price of rent in the UK is £1,061 each month, which the region is also still below.
Cheapest and most expensive places
The cheapest place in the UK to rent a home is the North East with an average of £668 pre month. Next was Wales (£852), East midlands (£859) and Northern Ireland (£876).
After Greater London – where rents are an average of £2,179 – the next most expensive places in the UK to rent are the South East (£1,359), East of England (£1,208) and the South West (£1,139).
Andy Halstead, HomeLet and Let Alliance chief executive officer, said: “Rental prices in the West Midlands are still starkly high – painting a bleak picture amid the cost-of-living crisis.
“Despite the month-on-month decrease, it is only a small amount and the simple fact of the matter is that this is a lose-lose situation for both landlord and tenant.
“Renters are being priced out by increasing costs, and property owners will struggle to fill vacancies whilst they manage rising running costs on the homes that they own.”
He added no-one was benefiting from the situation and he hoped the variances would decrease as the months progressed and the cost-of-living crisis began to flatten.
