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There are around eight and a half million families who rent - quite a bit more than those who have mortgages - so the rise in housing costs, on top of a cost-of-living crisis, is likely to be causing significant challenges for millions of people.\n \nThe official numbers from the Office for National Statistics show that, on average, rental inflation is now 3.6%. It's highest in the East Midlands and lowest in London. \n \nBut companies such as Rightmove, HomeLet and Zoopla report much bigger rate increases of between 9 and 12%. That is likely to reflect the situation that landlords are often not raising rents for existing tenants by very much but when a home changes hands - they may take the opportunity to raise rents much more significantly.\n \nIn Scotland, emergency legislation was passed which froze most rents until the end of March 2023. So the situation is quite different from the rest of the UK.\n \nTo guide us through what is happening and what best to do about it are: Aneisha Beveridge, Head of Research at the estate and letting agents, Hamptons, Deborah Garvie, Policy Manager at Shelter England, and Allan Fuller, an independent estate agent.

Presenter: Adam Shaw\nProducer: Amber Mehmood\nEditor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast 3pm, Wednesday 9th November, 2022)