Rising rents and cost of living mean renters are being priced out of cities

As rents rise and cost of living pressures continue, there are signs of tenants being priced out of major cities, according to Rightmove.

The property portal said that more of the renters were looking to move out of the city where they live than last year.

The estate agency's chief executive, Guy Gittins, told the BBC earlier this month that 42% of renters are now looking to move out of the city in which they currently live, compared to 37% last year and 28% in pre-pandemic February 2020.

London is the most likely of the 10 British cities analysed to see this happen, followed by Sheffield and Manchester.

It said that while flexible working will allow some people to move away from cities, the main drivers of the trend were rising rents and competition among prospective tenants for relatively few properties. There were indications that competition was starting to relax.

The average asking rents for Edinburgh city centre have gone up 19% over the last year, according to Rightmove. Inner London and Manchester have seen the biggest increase in average asking rents, up 19%, Rightmove said.

Tim Bannister, from Rightmove, said that renters are looking for their next home due to the cost pressures and the imbalance between supply and demand.

A greater proportion of prospective buyers are looking for a home in the city they live in, but it is also the opposite trend for renters who have been priced out of the city or have decided to move further out to reduce their overall bills. Rightmove recently said that all-inclusive rents were rising as the priority among people looking for somewhere to live due to the strain of larger essential bills, although experts said there were some pitfalls when choosing this option.