Average rents have risen by £4 a month, latest figures reveal.

Between February and March average rents rose £4 a month or one per cent to £638, only the second month of rent increases in the last eight months, according to Your Move.

Tenant demand is also rising – the number of occupied properties is up 41 per cent in the first quarter of 2009 on the same period last year, and year–on-year average rents have fallen six per cent.

But it’s not all bad news for tenants. Anyone who signs up for a lease now, is saving £1,020 a year on their rent compared to those who signed up last summer.

Rents are down £85 a month (12 per cent) from their £723 peak in July 2008. Meaning that year-on-year average rents have fallen six per cent across the UK – this time last year, the average rent was £677.

The cheapest rents in the UK are in Yorkshire and the Humber where the average rental cheque is for just £491 a month, compared to rents of £850 a month in London – not surprisingly, the most expensive place in the country.

But the largest falls in the last year came in the east of England, down £74 a month (10 per cent) to only £655 in March 2009.