The number of letting agents reporting rent rises over the past month is the highest for over a year according to the latest snapshot of the market by ARLA Propertymark.

It says that in June the number of agents who saw landlords increasing rents for tenants rose to 31 per cent, up from 27 per cent in May. This is the highest level since April 2016. 

The number of properties managed per member branch increased marginally in June, to 190 – up from 189 in May. Year on year, this figure has increased by eight per cent. In June last year, letting agents managed just 176 properties on average

And still in June, demand from tenants dropped slightly with 61 new tenants registered per branch. In April and May, agents registered 65 on average.

Meanwhile in a survey of ARLA members of what they want of the new government, most would like the Government to scrap the impending ban on letting agent fees (83 per cent) with almost as many (73 per cent) wanting better enforcement against rogue agents.

More than three in five (62 per cent) want the new government to better regulate the sector generally, while 26 per cent think there should be tax breaks to encourage longer term tenancies

“With the cost of living on the rise and inflationary pressures tightening, the last thing tenants need is for their rents to continue rising. However, the fact that supply looks to be rising, while demand has dropped slightly indicates a move in the right direction for the market” says David Cox, ARLA Propertymark chief executive.

“Ultimately, to stop rent prices from increasing too much, we need to find the balance between supply and demand. While there’s still a long way to go, if the supply of rental stock continues to increase, and the number of tenants searching for new properties drops off, we’ll be making headway towards achieving this” he adds.