Record levels of immigration have driven a third of the rent growth in the UK since Covid, new analysis shows. In the two years to June 2023, immigration led to an additional 430,000 households wanting to privately rent homes, meaning rents have climbed 11pc higher than they would otherwise have been, according to Capital Economics. On Thursday, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) will publish data showing total net immigration in 2023, which is expected to be high, after two unprecedented records set in 2021 and 2022. Rents typically rise roughly in line with wages, but since 2021 rent growth has far outpaced salary increases. Now, Britain is grappling with a rental crisis as homes become increasingly unaffordable. Between mid-2021 and the start of 2024, UK rents rose by 30pc, according to property website Zoopla. This was nearly double the 17pc increase in wages over the same period. The figures are in stark contrast to the decade up to mid-2021, when rents climbed by 26pc over the 10-year period, slightly less than the 27pc increase in wages. Andrew Wishart, who runs the housing service at Capital Economics, said: “This means rents are 11pc higher than would be explained by the...