PRIVATE renters’ household costs have increased by twice as much as the figure for homeowners in the past year, official statistics showed today.

The Office for National Statistics said that their household costs had risen by 3.6 per cent in the 12-month period to March.

This was the highest among all tenure types, followed by a rate of 3 per cent for social and other renter households.

Almost two-thirds of the household-cost inflation for private renters was attributed to rising rents.

The group with the lowest annual inflation was outright owner occupiers, who only experienced a 1.8 per cent rise in costs, followed by mortgage households.

Ben Twomey, chief executive of campaign group Generation Rent, said: “Homes are the foundations of our lives, but renters across the country are at constant risk of losing our homes and even ending up homeless because of soaring costs that swallow up our earnings.

“News of private renters facing the highest household costs is a sour reminder of how much of a raw deal we are getting.

“Limits on prices rightly exist for our energy and water bills, but the same protections don’t exist to stop landlords from hiking rents as they please.

“The government must act urgently on this and slam the breaks on soaring rents, before even more of us are priced out of our homes.”

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government was contacted for comment.

Earlier this week, single mother Bridget Chapman, 56, called for a cap on “shock rent rises” after her landlord gave just a month’s notice of a £100 increase.

She warned that the Renters Rights Bill now going through Parliament would not prevent other families ending up in her situation.