Tenants are complaining that lengthy application processes at lettings agencies contribute to their frustration at missing available properties. 

The results of a survey by PropTech platform MoveStreets suggest that 74 per cent of tenants say that relaying their requirements and having to undergo the referencing process with multiple agents was a time consuming process.

MoveStreets found that 40 per cent of tenants described their recent hunt for a rental home as difficult and half of them also said it took far longer than they expected before they were able to secure a property.

In the last decade, the total amount of rental stock within the private rental sector has increased by 23 per cent to 5.4m homes, meaning there are now over 1m more rental properties within the sector. 

However, at the same time, the number of total renters has also increased by 24 per cent, meaning there are now over 12.8m tenants – an increase of nearly 2.5m. 

Some 73 per cent of tenants stated that they found one to two properties that they classed as perfect, but these were let to someone else before they had a chance to secure them. 

For 18 per cent this frustration occurred on between three to five rental properties, with nine per cent missing out on six or more rental properties during their search.

The survey was conducted last week and contacted 2,345 UK tenants.

Adam Kamani, chief executive and co-founder of the platform, says: “The number of us reliant on the rental sector has grown steadily over the last decade and tenant demand has never been higher. As a result, the rental market has become a very competitive space where multiple tenants are fighting it out for a single property, while those who are unsuccessful are forced to go back to the drawing board.”