The average monthly rent paid by tenants in the UK rose by 9% in the year to February, official figures show – the highest annual increase since records began in 2015. Figures released by the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday highlighted what one campaigner described as a “cost of renting crisis”, with prices rising in all parts of the UK. In England, average monthly rents hit £1,276, a 8.8% increase year-on-year. In Scotland, they rose by 10.9% to an average of £944, and in Wales by 9% to £723. The data for Northern Ireland lags the rest of the UK, and the ONS reported a 9.3% rise there over the year to December 2023. In England, the biggest rise was in London, which already had the UK’s highest rent. The average monthly cost faced by a tenant was up by 10.6% year-on-year at £2,035. Rents have consistently increased since the ONS series began, but the pace of change has accelerated in recent months, with a combination of higher interest costs for landlords and a fall in the number of rental properties available driving up prices. February’s figures are the highest since the ONS started publishing this index, which is based on new and existing tenancies in England and Wales, newly advertised lets in Northern Ireland and predominantly new lets in Scotland. Ben Twomey, the chief executive of the campaign group Generation Rent, said the figures were “shocking but not surprising” and tenants were reaching “the very end of what we can afford”. “As the cost of living crisis apparently eases, the cost of renting crisis is continuing at pace,” he said. “This is not just down to landlords’ costs going up – more than half of privately rented homes have no mortgage attached to them – so clearly landlords are raising the rent just because their tenants have no choice but to pay these prices.” He called on the government to outlaw unaffordable rent rises and build more affordable and social homes. Greg Tsuman, the director of lettings at Martyn Gerrard estate agents and president of the industry body Arla Propertymark, said rents would continue rising and blamed taxes on landlords for driving part of the increase. “It is sadly unsurprising that we are witnessing the highest increase in private rents since records began. The market is under immense pressure on every front – high interest rates, a total lack of new supply for housing and landlords exiting the market due to onerous tax obligations.” He said this had “created a perfect storm” and called for an overhaul of tax rules for landlords. “The government needs to act urgently because this situation is unsustainable. Reform is needed to dramatically increase the supply of housing and we need to urgently review the tax regime for private landlords and reintroduce mortgage interest relief … This would attract landlords back to the market and help fix the supply gap.” In advance of the figures coming out, the charity Independent Age said older renters risked “being left behind” unless the government did more to protect them. Publishing a report entitled Paving the way: How England can learn from other nations about supporting older private renters, it said above inflation rent rises were “especially difficult for those on a low, fixed income to absorb”. Its polling showed that 45% of older private tenants in England felt anxious about being able to afford their rent, and called for the government to look at schemes such as Ireland’s Rent Pressure Zones where rents cannot be increased by more than inflation, or by more than 2%. Joanna Elson, the chief executive at Independent Age, said: “It’s clear that England is lagging behind many other countries in protecting tenants in later life. “While nowhere in the world is perfect, there is plenty the UK government can learn from across the globe, and even from our neighbours who make up the rest of the UK, to better protect the rapidly growing number of people renting in later life.”