According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), this growth was slowed down from the 7% increase seen in May. This was the sixth month in a row that annual rental inflation had eased.
The most significant rise was in Wales, with an 8.2% increase to £804 per month.
In England, average rents rose by 6.7% to £1,399, and in Scotland, there was a 4.4% lift to £999.
With data only available up until April, the ONS found that average rents in Northern Ireland increased by 7.6% to £852 year-on-year.
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Rental inflation slowing across all regions
In England, the yearly rise in average rents was lower than the 7.1% increase recorded in May and represented the seventh month that inflation had slowed.
This was also the case in Wales, where annual inflation was down compared to May’s 8.5% figure. In Scotland, the ONS said yearly growth had been easing since the record high of 11.7% recorded in August 2023, and June’s growth was the lowest annual rise for three years.
Rental inflation was also down in Northern Ireland, and this has been slowing since April last year, when it reached a record high of 9.9%.
Rents are still increasing quickly
Louisa Sedgwick, managing director of mortgages at Paragon Bank, said: “The cooling of rent inflation is a step in the right direction, but at 0.3% percentage points, it’s a small step and comes from the record high recorded last year.
“This means that rents are still increasing at a faster rate than they were before the pandemic, driven by the continued imbalance between supply and demand for rental homes. Over the long term, projected demographic changes and population growth [are] likely to propel demand for rented homes.
“Creating the conditions to enable landlords to invest and increase the supply of PRS properties to meet this demand will help to limit rent inflation, making renting more affordable for tenants and provide them with a greater choice of places to live.”
Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark, said: “Investors in the private rental market have been deterred from investing in this crucial housing market because of tax and regulatory changes over the last 10 years, and now recent reports suggest that they have been deterred further by stamp duty increases on second homes.
“Britain needs a stable and thriving private rental market to provide choice to people who intend to put a roof over their heads. New legislation, especially in both England and Scotland, is adding more uncertainty to aspiring investors and ultimately raising rent prices in the long term, creating a myriad of unintended consequences. It is vital that the UK government and the devolved administrations listen to those working in the lettings market to ensure that the private rental sector works better for everyone.”
North East the strongest for rental price growth
The North East continued to be the English region with the highest annual rent inflation, with a joint record high of 9.7% to £734 per month. This was unchanged from the previous month.
Despite this growth, private rent in the North East was the lowest in England.
The smallest inflation was in Yorkshire and the Humber, at 3.5%. This was a lower rate of growth than the 3.7% recorded in May and marked a year of slowing annual rent inflation.
Average rents in London rose by 7.3%, down from 7.7% in the 12 months to May. This was the seventh month of slowing inflation, but at an average price of £2,252, the capital remained the costliest region in which to rent.
Detached properties attracted the highest monthly private rent of all property types, at £1,533, while flats and maisonettes were the lowest at £1,318.
The average rent for properties with four or more bedrooms was the highest, averaging £2,077 per month, and lowest for properties with one bedroom, at £1,091.
