Rents remained steady in June 2013 as an increase in first-time buyer numbers eased the strain on the rental market according to LSL Property Services. The average rent in England and Wales remained the same as May 2013 at £737 per month, resisting the typical seasonal average rises associated with the past five years of 0.8%, leaving rents only 2.6% higher than June 2012, well below the rate of CPI inflation (2.9%). David Brown, commercial director of LSL, said: “The proportion of households in the private rented sector is still growing strongly, a trend that’s set to continue for the foreseeable future. Yet with better access to finance in the first half of this year, the immediate picture has become far brighter for tens of thousands of first-time buyers. “In the longer-term, the number who can afford to buy a first home will be limited by some fundamental constraints – earnings, and the building of new homes. That’s why we expect average rents to at least match wider inflation in the coming years.” The number of new tenants in June also fell with 0.8% fewer new tenancies in June than in May. However, activity has still seen strong annual growth as the number of new lettings in June increased by 3.5% compared to the same month in 2012. Five out of ten regions saw rents rise in June with highest monthly increase in the East Midlands at 0.7% compared to May whilst the second fastest were the North West and South West, with average rents in both regions seeing a 0.5% monthly rise. The highest monthly falls were in Wales, where average rents are down 1.9% as rents in Yorkshire and the Humber also fell by 0.6%, while the West Midlands saw average rents drop by 0.5%. Meanwhile, rents in the South East have fallen by 0.4% between May and June, representing a sharp decline from only the previous month. By comparison, between April and May the average monthly rent in the South East had grown by 0.2%. On an annual basis, rents in seven out of ten regions remain higher than in June 2012 with London achieving the highest rises, up 6.4% from a year ago. The East Midlands experienced the second highest annual rise, with rents up 3.4% in June, followed by the North East with rents on average 2.5% higher than a year ago. David Brown comments: “Rents are still showing strong annual increases. Total returns are the same as a month before, and rental yields still represent a far more generous income than other assets of the same stability. A reinvigorated purchase market will drive more investment in the private rented sector, not less. So as we’ve started to witness in June, more supply could be good news for tenants as well as landlords.”