The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors warns that rents are likely to stagnate for the rest of the year – although they are not expected to fall despite the market standstill.

In its latest residential market survey it says: “In the lettings market, tenant demand was more or less stable in the three months to March (non-seasonally adjusted series). Alongside this, landlord instructions fell once more, with a net balance of minus 32 per cent of contributors noting a decline. 

“The virus outbreak has had a significant negative influence on near term rental growth projections, which slipped into negative territory during March. 

“While rents are now seen stagnating over the next 12 months, medium term projections have only been downgraded slightly compared to the February figures, with average annual growth of 2.5 per cent anticipated through to 2025.”

As we reported on Estate Agent Today just before the Easter weekend, RICS has called for a stamp duty holiday as “one of the ways to reactivate the housing market quickly as a short-term measure.”