The cost of renting a room in the South Hams has risen by the highest rate in mainland Britain.

New data released by flatshare site SpareRoom shows an eight per cent increase in room rentals in the South West since 2019.

All regions in Britain have seen an increase except for London and the West Midlands which fell as a result of the pandemic.

Matt Hutchinson, SpareRoom director comments: “We knew the pandemic had a dramatic impact on room rents and 2021 saw rents across the South West on the up. The last two years have had a huge impact on our lives and have led most of us to question what’s important, including where we want to live.

We saw a huge surge in demand towards the end of 2021, as people started to return to work and restrictions eased.