Sarah Coles, head of personal finance for Bristol-based Hargreaves Lansdown, said landlords are continuing to sell up as they are “concerned about higher costs from more regulation and more tax”.
“It means more tenants chasing dwindling numbers of properties, so rents are continuing to rise,” she said.
“At the same time, although wages have risen impressively, they have been consistently outpaced by private rental increases.”
The ONS said Bath and North East Somerset also had some of the least “affordable” rents outside London, with average rent costs in 2024 at 42.7% of household incomes.
This is a rise since 2023, where the figure stood at 37.8%, but the figure has generally been above 40% since 2016.