HOUSING rents have shot up by at least ten per cent in the York area - fuelled by a soaring divorce rate.

And they are set to rocket by another eight per cent next year to record levels, predicts the country's largest lettings agency, Belvoir Lettings.

Belvoir, which has an office in Walmgate, believes an increase in divorce and separations, along with high property prices and a slowdown in house sales, is behind the rental boom.

York manager Andrew Graham says more older, single people - some of whom were previously sharing a home - are seeking rented single or two room accommodation.

He says a flat which commanded a rent of £400 at the start of the year might now achieve £450.

Joe McGuinness, director of the York branch of the charity Relate, said the city was seeing the same rise in divorce as elsewhere. And for every divorce, there were as many separations.

He said that when couples separated, at least one of the partners often sought temporary rented accommodation in the hope that they might eventually get back together again, while many could also not afford to buy.

Belvoir chief executive Mike Goddard says the increasing population of people living alone and the rise in divorce rates are both impacting on the rental market.

He added that in many parts of the country, young people were being priced out of the market and their only option was to rent.

Belvoir, which has a chain of branches across the UK, says that the steepest rent rises came between May and August, as conditions in the housing market continued to keep first-time buyers from purchasing and pushed more owner-occupiers unable to sell into the rental market.

City of York Council said today it had experienced an increase in demand for rented accommodation in recent months, and there were more people on the waiting list, although it was difficult to pinpoint why this was.

Updated: 10:10 Tuesday, November 02, 2004