PRIVATE renters in Barnsley are paying 30 per cent more to live in their homes than they were five years ago, prompting a campaign group to call for more protection to be put in place.
Provisional figures from the Office for National Statistics show the average private rent in Barnsley reached £618 per month in the year to August - up ten per cent from £562 a year prior.
It was also up 30 per cent from an estimated £477 a month five years ago.
Valuation Office Agency rent officers collect prices from a variety of sources, including landlords and letting agents, with the aim to collect data on approximately ten per cent of the market.
Across Yorkshire and the Humber, the average rent was £797 - rising seven per cent from the year before.
York had the highest rental cost in the region at £1,112 per month, while the lowest was in North East Lincolnshire at £566.
It comes as campaign group Generation Rent said protections must be put in place to prevent rent costs rising above inflation and wage growth.
Ben Twomey, the organisation’s chief executive, said: “This isn’t news to renters, who have been feeling this squeeze for a very long time as our landlords snatch away more and more of our wages.
“The government’s Renters’ Rights Bill, published last week, offers many positives for tenants, but the cost of renting crisis will rage on unless Westminster slams the brakes on these runaway rents.
“Alongside this, we desperately need more homes people can afford to live in, in the places people want to live, and we are pleased that the government have set out this long-term aim.”
The figures also show the different costs for various homes in Barnsley, from £449 for a one-bed property to £984 for a home with four or more bedrooms in August.
A detached house costs £853 per month on average, it’s £661 for a semi-detached house, £592 for a terraced house and a flat is £516.
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “A severe shortage of genuinely affordable social homes has forced millions of people to rely on the private rented sector, with rents continuing to soar as a result.
“With competition fierce, private renters have no choice but to pay over the odds just to keep a roof over their heads.
“Renters shouldn’t be forced out of their homes by eye-watering rent hikes but over 60,000 have lost their homes to big, unexpected jumps in rent in the past year alone.”
She said long term action is needed to tackle rising rents and to provide people with ‘genuinely affordable’ homes, calling on the government to invest in 90,000 new social homes for ten years.
A Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson added: “Our landmark Renters’ Rights Bill will introduce extra protections against unreasonable rent increases that stop landlords using large increases to force tenants out.
“We’ll also deliver 1.5 million new homes over the next five years, including the biggest increase in social and affordable housing in a generation.”
