Somerset's average private rent has climbed above £1,000 a month, with tenants facing a faster annual increase than across the wider South West.

Figures published by the Office for National Statistics on 21 October put the average monthly rent at £1,021 in September, up from £960 a year earlier.

That £61 monthly difference is equivalent to £732 over a full year. It reflects the change in the county-wide average, rather than an increase applied to every tenancy.

Somerset's annual rental growth of 6.3 per cent exceeded the South West rate of 4.2 per cent. However, rents remained lower than the regional average of £1,251 a month.

The figures cover the Somerset Council area, including Wells, Shepton Mallet, Glastonbury and Street. They do not provide separate averages for those towns.

Three-bedroom homes recorded an annual rent increase of 6.7 per cent, reaching an average of £1,142 a month. Properties with four or more bedrooms averaged £1,628.

A one-bedroom property cost an average of £695 a month, while the figure for two bedrooms was £918. By property type, flats and maisonettes averaged £792, compared with £1,399 for detached homes.

House prices also increased, although more slowly than rents. Somerset's provisional average reached £282,000 in August, up 2.8 per cent over the year, while the South West average remained broadly unchanged at £304,000.

First-time buyers paid an average of £233,000 in Somerset, an annual increase of 3.1 per cent. People moving from another home paid an average of £335,000.

Commenting on the national housing market, Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla, said: "There is still demand to buy homes, and those that are well priced and presented are selling just as quickly as last year."

Rightmove highlighted the pressure on affordability in its October market report. It said: "The rapid rise in mortgage rates is really beginning to hit buyers' budgets."

Semi-detached properties recorded the strongest annual price growth among the property types highlighted by the ONS, rising 3.6 per cent. Flat prices remained broadly unchanged.

The average detached home cost £459,000, compared with £290,000 for a semi-detached property and £235,000 for a terraced home. Flats and maisonettes averaged £136,000.

The ONS cautions that local housing figures are based on fewer properties than national estimates, making short-term movements more variable. It recommends looking at trends over a year or longer.

House price figures are provisional and subject to revision. The figures are not seasonally adjusted, and the rent and purchase-price comparisons cover different months.

The full breakdown is available on the ONS housing prices in Somerset page.

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