Tenants need to put down ever-increasing deposits - an average of £971 in England and Wales - while in London the average deposit is heading towards the £2,000 mark, according to data from The Deposit Protection Service.
The DPS said the £970.48 sum was the figure between April and June this year, a 4.8% rise compared with the first quarter of this year.
The average for properties with London postcodes (£1,799.11) was the highest, replacing the Kingston-upon-Thames ‘KT’ postcode (£1,682.85), which had been the most expensive between January and March.
Properties with Durham’s ‘DR’ postcode were the cheapest in the country, with new tenants having to submit £467.76 as a tenancy deposit.
Twickenham (£1,596.38), Enfield (£1,562.97) and St Albans (£1,562.04) all joined Kingston and London in the top five most expensive areas for tenancy deposits.