THE LIMOUSIN has been named the cheapest region in France to rent a home.

The Observatoire Clameur, a specialist in the French property rental market, found the average rent in the region is €8.30 per square metre per month - or €415 for a 50m² flat.

Rents in Paris and the Ile-de-France were more than double, at €17.60 per square metre - €880 a month for the same size apartment.

The nationwide average is €12.20 per square metre per month.

Researchers said the French property rental market was beginning to pick up again, after a flat 2009, as people were becoming more mobile.

The number of new rental contracts signed so far this year is up 3.5 per cent year on year, according to the study.

Rents in France have risen by 1.4 per cent over the same period. Towns with the biggest increases included Bourges (up 10.4 per cent) and the Paris suburb of Nanterre (up 7.6 per cent).

Rents continue to fall in a number of northern towns: down 3.3 per cent in Troyes and Mulhouse, 2.7 per cent in Quimper and 2.6 per cent in Roubaix.