A lettings agency says an improvement in stock levels is allowing negotiations on rent levels between landlords and tenants.

London-focused agency Chestertons says that in the capital there were 37 per cent more rental properties on the market in February 2023 than a year earlier.

This created competition between landlords – not seen for some time in the wider UK lettings market – and has led to cuts in sone asking rents in a bid to woo tenants.

The agency says that asking rents were up 11 per cent compared to February 2022 but actual achieved rents were up only three per cent – this is because two thirds of landlords lowered their initial asking price.

Richard Davies, chief operating officer at Chestertons, says: “With the capital suffering from a chronic lack of rental properties, we have seen a growing backlog of tenants who are desperate to move to a new home. 

“[This] increase in rental properties becoming available brought some much-needed relief and saw some landlords being open to rent negotiations. 

“Despite some negotiations taking place, the market will, however, remain competitive and prices will be widely unaffected unless we see even larger volumes of landlords return to the capital.”