FCC Paragon’s latest rents survey shows that London and the South East commanded the highest average rents in 2009 with £1163.95 and £885.88 respectively, followed by the east of England with £769.09 and the south west with £691.95. The lowest average rent was Scotland with £444.57 and Wales close by at £495.61.

The biggest decline was in Scotland with a 24.13 per cent decrease; while in the south east there was a decrease of 16.88 per cent although both areas had seen the highest improvements for the period 2007 to 2008 with an increase of 18.37 per cent and 18.65 per cent respectively. Only three regions showed an increase; East Midlands with an increase of 0.18 per cent, giving an average rent of £553.11, North East England with an increase of 3.10 per cent (average rent £527.04) and West Midlands with an increase of 0.31 per cent (average of £571.11).

Janie Gaston, General Manager for Paragon Advance said, “The Midlands has continued to sustain and even realise increased rents compared to most other regions, despite the overall economic conditions. Our sales manager for the Midlands region, Ian McLaughlin, has reported that there is still a large demand for rented property in the region but, because of the difficulty at the moment getting buy-to-let mortgages, no new stock is coming onto the market, hence sustaining the rent values.”