Rents across the UK fell in November for the first time in over half a decade, dropping 0.01%, according to Landbay.

The buy-to-let lender noted that a two-speed market has emerged between London and much of the rest of the UK, with a fall in rents in the capital dragging down the average.

Over the last year rents have dropped by 0.83% in London, but grown by 1.27% elsewhere in the UK.

November marked 18 months since rents in the capital first entered negative territory, and rents are falling in 26 of the 33 London boroughs.

What does it cost to rent?

The average UK rent has now plateaued at a record £1,196 per month, up from £1,190 at the turn of the year.

Removing London from the equation puts average rents at £759, up from £750 at the turn of the year, an extra £9 per calendar month or £109 per year.

The slowdown in rental growth has not been consistent across the country. The East Midlands (2.13%), South West (1.63%) and East England (1.57%) experienced substantial growth in 2017 and are expected to climb further as we head into 2018. The North East has also seen rents grow at a faster rate in 2017 than at any other time in the past five years (0.65%).

Despite the falls, London rents remain, on average, 2.5 times greater than those across the rest of the UK at £1,871.

John Goodall, CEO and founder of Landbay said: “With interest rates now rising, we expect upward rental pressure to be just around the corner. Without a radical house building plan for purchase as well as purpose-built rental properties, rental prices are in danger of soaring over the coming decades.”