A lettings market snapshot conducted before the worst effects of the Coronavirus were known suggests the rental market is relatively strong for investors.

The website Home, which looks at rental market stock volumes and asking rents, says that there is 18 per cent less stock now than a year ago and 17 per cent fewer new rentals entering the market. 

London is suffering the most with the supply of newly available rental properties down 23 per cent – and the website warns “this squeeze is having a dramatic effect on rents.” 

The mix-adjusted average rent in the Greater London area is now up 11 per cent year-on-year and some boroughs are seeing annualised hikes as high as 20 per cent it claims.

“All evidence points to the fact that supply has slumped below the level of demand…This situation has clear implications for significant upward price adjustments, particularly in the London rental market where we are witnessing further dramatic rent hikes especially in the more central boroughs” explains Home.