THE cost of renting in Somerset has increased slightly over the last year, figures show.

Between April 2016 and March 2017 the median monthly rent for all houses in Somerset was £615, according to the Valuation Office Agency.

By 2017-18 that had risen to £625, an increase of 1.6%.

The UK currently has the highest number of private renters in the country's history, more than one in five households. By 2021 one in four people are expected to be private tenants.

Adults in their 20s and 30s have been nicknamed Generation Rent as soaring house prices have put buying properties out of reach.

Rents in Somerset have been rising since 2013-14, when the VOA first began publishing this data. Over the last four years prices have increased by around 5% on average.

The area's median rent is lower than average for the South West, which is £700.

The median is the middle figure out of a group of numbers, so not distorted by very high and very low rents.

Lawrence Bowles, research analyst at the estate agents Savills, said he thought rents would continue to increase over the next four years.

He commented: "Our forecast is strongest for investors in London and we expect rental prices will be in line with wage growth there and in other big cities, such as Manchester, Bristol and Birmingham.

"Outside urban areas I expect rents to grow slower than wages."

The data also shows the median monthly cost of renting a one bedroom property in Somerset, which is now £460. That's a 6.2% rise on 2013-14. For families renting a three bedroom home the median cost is £725, a 5.1% rise.

The figures are calculated after the VOA has collected samples throughout the 12 month period. Different years have different sample sizes so annual changes are estimates.

Dan Wilson Craw, director of pressure group Generation Rent, said: "Renters are in a bind. If they choose to live where there's a strong jobs market they might see their pay packet gobbled up by high rents.

"If they live somewhere cheaper, either there's a risk that it's harder to find a stable job or they pay for it in higher commuting costs.

"The government must make renting a more secure arrangement, with restrictions on rent rises and unfair evictions, but also look at how to introduce a living rent that ordinary workers can afford."

Westminster has the highest median rent in England, at £2,265. Hull has the lowest, less than a fifth of Westminster's figure, at £399.