Paragon Advance has released its end of half-year average rent statistics for 2010, as produced by their tenant referencing division, FCC Paragon. The research indicates that rents across the country, with the exception of Wales and the North West, have risen.

Data taken between the beginning of January and the end of June 2010 show that London and The South East still command the highest average rent with £949.40 per month, a 5.47 per cent increase on the same period in 2009, followed by The East of England with an average rent of £808.00, a 4.66 per cent increase on the same period last year. Figures taken for the second quarter of 2010 showed that average rents in The South West had actually gone down by 1.8 per cent year on year for the same period, however, rents have picked up in the second half of the year as a whole now yielding an average rent of £703.21, a 1.24 per cent increase on the same period last year.

Although average rentals in Scotland for the period were considerably lower at £487.78, this region proved to have the highest percentage increase year on year at 12.39 per cent.

Only Wales and the North West showed a decrease year on year with £450.72, a decrease of 8.6 per cent, and £563.42, a decrease of 1.7 per cent, respectively.

Paul Abbott (pictured), Head of Property and Mortgages at Paragon comments, “Whilst there is a high desire to purchase property, the banks demand for large deposits often makes renting the only option for a number of people and so the rental market has remained buoyant during the first six months of 2010.”