Demand for rental homes in UK up by 23% in a year, as rents hit record high

Some would-be property buyers are waiting till next year to move in the hope that interest rates will drift downwards. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

Demand for rental homes across the UK has jumped by nearly a quarter in a year, research has found, piling more pressure on an oversubscribed market and pushing record private rents even higher.

The number of people enquiring about homes to rent is up 23% on this time last year, according to the property website Rightmove, driven in part by some would-be buyers putting their plans on hold in the hope that mortgage rates will drop in the new year.