The price hikes have been exacerbated by a shortage of supply and, in London, the problem is even more acute with rents up nearly double the national average to £1,465 and the average length of tenancy increased from 12 to 18 months as renters are priced out of the sales market, the report said.
It could also incorporate factors such as tenancy security, for example, by taking into account the average length of tenancies in a given area.
The cheapest region was Yorkshire and the Humber, where the average cost of new tenancies was £565 a month.
The average rent for new tenancies in the three months to July 2015 was £977 – 11.8 per cent higher than the same period last year.
In Bristol the average rent for a new tenancy rose from £767 to £904, an increase of 18%.
The average cost of a new tenancy on a one-bedroom home hit £746 a month in May, taking up 48% of the take-home pay of a worker aged under 30, data from property firm Countrywide showed.
Compared with July 2014, when the average rent in England and Wales stood at £753, people taking out new tenancies in July 2015 were expected to pay 6.8 per cent more – the largest annual rise on record.
It reads: "The average private renter spends 40% of their income on rent – the average mortgage holder spends 20% on repayments – and most tenancy agreements last six or 12 months.
Sheffield Homes raised concerns that an average annual tenancy turnover was masking an abnormally high and rising percentage turnover in the first two years of tenancy.
