Rents have surged in areas where London's future Elizabeth line stations are located at double the average inflation elsewhere in the capital since 2012, according to analysis.

Rental costs in the areas surrounding the 38 planned stations along the much-anticipated Elizabeth line have grown from a monthly average of £1,193 in January 2012 to £1,376 in June 2018, according to peer-to-peer funded buy-to-let lender Landbay.

This means that on average, renters had to fork out an additional £2,196 this year compared to when construction started in 2012.

And the benefits of living along the line are yet to be felt by residents with the recent announcement that the Crossrail project is to be delayed by nine months, now with just a vague autumn opening date next year.

Rental growth around the Elizabeth Line is more than double the London average since 2012

John Goodall, chief executive of Landbay said: 'The Elizabeth line will improve access to the centre of London for thousands of commuters, but it comes at a premium for renters.

'The prospect of better transport links is creating higher demand for property in these areas.

'As a result, house prices and rents alike have increased, which for many landlords is an attractive proposition due to the prospect of extra return on investment.'

Three areas surrounding the stations along the new line have seen rents grow by over 30 per cent since 2012.

HOW HAS THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ELIZABETH LINE IMPACTED RENTS? Station Rents Jun-18 Change Reading £1,013 14.45% Twyford £1,171 8.01% Maidenhead £1,189 4.32% Taplow £1,208 -2.02% Burnham £1,122 26.02% Slough £1,002 11.85% Langley £1,231 18.97% Iver £1,452 28.03% West Drayton £1,185 5.82% Hayes & Harlington £1,291 21.75% Southall £1,517 38.19% Hanwell £1,364 15.03% West Ealing £1,612 8.72% Ealing Broadway £1,963 11.91% Acton Main Line £1,924 19.62% Paddington £2,689 -2.35% Bond Street £4,566 -9.28% Tottenham Court Road £2,716 -6.12% Farringdon £2,413 7.82% Liverpool Street £2,065 -7.03% Whitechapel £1,820 8.02% Canary Wharf £1,881 -0.09% Custom House £1,561 9.44% Woolwich £1,327 19.55% Abbey Wood £1,092 26.51% Stratford £1,696 18.96% Maryland £1,418 -6.51% Forest Gate £1,317 19.59% Manor Park £1,363 37.24% Ilford £1,387 27.24% Seven Kings £1,424 26.09% Goodmayes £1,310 25.18% Chadwell Heath £1,346 27.35% Romford £1,302 30.47% Gidea Park £1,119 13.37% Harold Wood £1,076 8.24% Brentwood £1,054 2.85% Shenfield £1,662 16.41%

The station that's seen the highest growth is Southall in the West with 38.19 per cent, while Manor Park and Romford to the East have seen rents increase by 37.24 per cent and 30.47 per cent respectively.

The surrounding areas of eight stations have seen rents rise between 20-29 per cent since 2012, including Abbey Wood, Ilford, Seven Kings, Goodmayes and Chadwell Heath to the East of the line, and Burnham, Iver, and Hayes & Harlington to the West.

Just three stations outside of Zone 1 have seen local rents fall since 2012, with rents in Taplow to the West of the line decreasing by 2.02 per cent and Canary Wharf and Maryland in the East decreasing by 0.09 per cent and 6.51 per cent respectively.

Dan Wilson Craw from campaign group Generation Rent said: 'Better transport links make areas more desirable so it's no surprise that Crossrail is driving up rents.

'But landlords shouldn't automatically get all the benefit of this, at the expense of people who could find themselves priced out of their local area.'

Is this good news for landlords?

While landlords who already owned their properties prior to 2012 will be rubbing their hands, the parallel growth in house prices along the line mean these areas aren't necessarily fool proof buy-to-let investments for new buyers.

In fact, in many areas the average rental yield has actually declined over the past six years.

For example in Reading, Berkshire, where house prices have shot up from an average £305,236 in 2012 to £433,907 today, yields have fallen from 3.48 per cent to 2.80 per cent.

The story is the same in Brentwood, Essex, where average yields have fallen from 3.17 per cent to 2.55 per cent.

Even in Stratford, where rents have risen 18.96 per cent in this time, yields now stand at 5.05 per cent, from 6.67 per cent in 2012.

And for areas where rental yields have grown, such as in Whitechapel, gains have been marginal.

Over the past six years rental yields have grown 0.32 per cent to 4.49 per cent, despite its prime location.

Elsewhere, rents likely to rise as landlords offload property

On a national level, rent prices are predicted to climb 15 per cent over the next five years as the supply of new property continues to dry up while demand increases, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

It is the eighth consecutive quarter in which the number of rental properties has fallen, Rics said, following the recent news that landlords are offloading 3,800 buy-to-let properties a month, leading to the first drop in the number of homes available to rent in 18 years.

House price growth mean areas along the line aren't always fool proof buy-to-let investments

Simon Rubinsohn, Rics chief economist, said: 'The impact of recent and ongoing tax changes is clearly having a material impact on the buy-to-let sector as intended.

'The risk, as we have highlighted previously, is that a reduced pipeline of supply will gradually feed through into higher rents in the absence of either a significant uplift in the build-to-rent programme or government funded social housing.

'At the present time, there is little evidence that either is likely to make up the shortfall.

'This augers ill for those many households for whom owner occupation is either out of reach financially or just not a suitable tenure.'

A number of tax and regulatory changes have hit landlords' profits recently, including the limiting of mortgage interest tax relief from April 2017 and the introduction of a three per cent stamp duty surcharge in April 2016.

It means it is now much more expensive to both buy and run buy-to-let properties than it was two years ago.