But with a quarter of tenants struggling to pay, what are your rights?
Most tenants have a rental agreement called an assured shorthold tenancy.
Some of these are "rolling" - which means tenants pay rent weekly or monthly, with no fixed end date.
In England, the landlord:
Any rent rise must be fair and realistic, in line with local properties.
Other renters have a "fixed" agreement, which typically runs for six or 12 months.
The landlord:
If the fixed term is a year, landlords must give six months' notice.
There are some other tenancy agreements with different rules.
The housing charity Shelter's online tool canhelp people in England find out what kind of tenancy they have.
Housing law and renting rules are different inScotland,WalesandNorthern Ireland.
In Englanda holding depositis paid to a landlord to reserve a property.
It can't be more than one week's rent.
You should get the money back within seven days of signing your tenancy agreement - or it can go towards your rent.
But if you decide not to move in, you could lose it.
If the landlord doesn't give it back, and you think they should, write to them.
If you still don't get a refund, contact one of theletting agent redress schemes.
You can also complain in England to Trading Standards through theCitizen's Advice consumer helpline.
Such depositsare not legal in Scotland, and rules are different inWalesandNorthern Ireland.
Landlords need to followstrict rulesif they want a tenant to leave - if not, the eviction could be illegal, or the landlord could be guilty of harassment.
In England the landlordhas to give written notice to the tenant, which could be:
Other tenancy contracts havedifferent rules.
Once the notice period ends, the landlord canstart eviction proceedings through court.
Landlords can apply for a so-called "possession order". If that is granted and you don't leave, landlords can apply for a "warrant for possession".
Eviction rules differ inScotland,WalesandNorthern Ireland.
Tenants in England have the right to"live in a property that's safe and in a good state of repair". Similar rules are in place inScotland,Wales, andNorthern Ireland.
Landlords are not expected to do small jobs like changing light bulbs.
However, a rented home could be unfit if, for example,the electrics are unsafe, it's damp, or there's a problem with rats or mice.
If so, you can complain to your landlord, or - if that doesn't work -your local council.
Your landlordmay try to evict you rather than make repairs, but you might have more protection if you've already complained to the council.
Tenants need to pay rent on time, cover the bills they are responsible for, and look after the property. This includes disposing of rubbish, and keeping the property reasonably clean.
There are no laws explicitly stopping this, but MPs are considering more protections for renters in England.
Under a new law tabled in Parliament, tenants will be given a legal right to request to keep a "well-behaved" pet,which the landlord can only refuse on reasonable grounds- such as the size of the property.
However, landlords will be able to charge a higher rent to cover the risk of pet damage.
The law is also set to make it illegal for a landlord to refuse tenancies to families with children, or those on benefits.
At presentit could be discriminationunder equality law in England if a landlord refuses to rent a property to a woman because she has children.
However,BBC News foundalmost a quarter of some 8,000 adverts examined on the property website OpenRent indicated that families were not eligible.
More than 300 listings on another property portal, Zoopla, explicitly said children were not wanted, although this was less than 1% of those we looked at.
Some 73% of sampled OpenRent listings said tenants with pets were not welcome, compared with 6% on Zoopla.
Shelter warned the problem would be even more widespread as sometimes prospective tenants were only told they were not welcome when they applied.
Landlords can choose to include bills such as council tax, but don't have to.
If a landlord includes utility bills, they cannot charge a tenant more than the amount they pay.
Rents are rising at their fastest rate since records began in 2016.