Landlords in Cambridge, Leicester and Southall are reaping benefits of increasingly higher rental income.

According to new research it provides the great news that Leicester has seen rents rise by 45%, nearly £200 in one year. The average rent in the city for 2014 was £611 whereas the preceding year it stood at £421.

In Cambridge average monthly rents went up by 24% and in Southall by 38%. There is good news for other boroughs, towns and the Capital. Chelmsford, Gloucester, Harrow, Ilford, Swindon, Telford and London have also seen significant growth in average monthly rents.

There is a downside where some cities and towns have seen a drop in monthly rental income. Colchester (on the same mainline as Chelmsford to London) has overall seen rent drops by 24%, which is far the largest, just in front of Croydon - 23% - and most surprisingly Brighton has seen a drop. The other areas that have not performed well are Belfast, Cardiff, Huddersfield, Leeds, Lincoln, Manchester and Romford.

The letting arm of the national agents which compiled the figures, found that rents fell in many regions of the UK in December but there was positive growth in 10 out of 12 UK regions when compared with December 2013. The average rent in the UK last year was £867, compared to £813 in 2013.

Two other Estate agents supplied figures backing up the overall good news that during 2014, overall rents had risen by 3%. They report that rents in England and Wales are now standing at £767 in comparison to £745 in December 2014.

Rents are higher than a year ago in eight out of 10 regions of England & Wales, with the East of England leading the way with a 7.6% annual increase. Rents also rose by 6.2% in the East Midlands and by 4.1% in London over the last 12 months.

 

Adrian Gill, director of a national estate agents, said: "There appears to be a new fire in the rental market as we enter 2015. Demand for homes to let is hotter than we would normally expect at this time of year.
 
"In particular, a jobs boom across the eastern regions of England has seen a larger than usual number of people relocating in the winter months. This has pushed up rental prices in these regions even further."