Rent in West Devon rose slightly over the past year, new figures show.

While annual growth in rental prices across Great Britain has been slowing, campaign group Generation Rent warned "rents continue to rise faster than our wages" and urged the Government to act on rent increases.

Provisional figures from the ONS show the average private rent in West Devon reached £819 per month in the year to August – up 2% from £801 a year prior.

It was also up 23% from an estimated £666 a month five years ago.

Valuation Office Agency rent officers collect prices from a variety of sources, including landlords and letting agents, with the aim to collect data on approximately 10% of the market.

Across the South West, the average rent was £1,192 – rising 5% from the year before.

Bristol had the highest rental cost in the region at £1,778 per month, while the lowest was in Torridge at £773.

The average private rent in Great Britain was £1,360 per month in August. While this was £73, or 5.7%, higher than 12 months ago, this annual growth rate was down from 5.9% in the 12 months to July.

Ben Twomey, Generation Rent chief executive, said: "Homes are the foundations of our lives, but rents continue to rise faster than our wages, swallowing more and more of our income.

"High rents push people into homelessness and trap them in temporary accommodation, they pull children into poverty and prevent people from saving for the future.

"We rightly have caps on our energy and water bills, but the same protections don’t exist to stop landlords from pricing us out of our homes.

"The Government can and must act through devolving powers to Mayors to limit rent increases in their areas."

Separate ONS figures published earlier this week show a rise in total wage growth including bonuses to 4.7% in the quarter to July, up from 4.6% in the three months to June.

The provisional figures also show the different costs for various homes in West Devon, from £583 for a one-bed property to £1,316 for a home with four or more bedrooms in August.

Among the property types in the area:

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