The latest findings from the HomeLet Rental Index reveal that over the three months to October the cost of a tenancy outside of London rose by 3.5% when compared to last year.

Whilst this level of growth for new tenancies continues to outstrip the rate of inflation, this is much lower than the peaks seen just a few months ago when rents were up annually by over 8%.

The latest HomeLet Rental Index is published alongside new research into tenants’ views about the rental market, conducted by HomeLet in October 2015. The research reveals that a large proportion of tenants are renting their homes for the long term and that they value relationships of trust with landlords and letting agents.

In HomeLet’s nationwide survey of almost 15,000 tenants, almost two-thirds (64%) said they planned to continue renting for a year or longer, and 90% said they were happy with their landlord.

HomeLet’s survey found that a large proportion of tenants (71%) would ideally prefer to buy a home, however 66% said they saw saving for a deposit as the biggest barrier preventing them from doing so.