The president of the Association of Residential Letting Agents’ wing of Propertymark says rumours of a recent rise in the supply of homes won’t solve the current lettings crisis.

Angharad Trueman – in response to today’s Rightmove report suggesting rents are being cut by a quarter of landlords to attract tenants – says: “Despite reports of a recent rise in the supply of privately rented homes, we continue to battle against a long-standing and critical imbalance in the number of homes available to rent and a rise in tenant demand.

“Fundamentally, this spike is not enough to meet demand long-term and we are unlikely to see any improvement in rent levels without the acknowledgment from various governments across the entire UK as to the importance that the private rented sector plays in housing the nation and the introduction of incentives for landlords to invest in the sector.”

Rightmove says the most recent quarterly rise in rents by an average of 0.6% outside of London is the smallest increase across Great Britain excluding London at this time of year since 2020.

Meanwhile, the number of prospective tenants looking to move is 7% lower than at this time last year.

As a result, a quarter of rental properties are seeing a reduction in the advertised price, the most at this time of year since 2018.

Over the last five years, average rent rises have outpaced increases in wages. Average earnings are up by 31% since 2020, versus a 40% increase in rents.

The average advertised rent of new properties coming onto the market outside of London has risen by 0.6% this quarter to a new record of £1,349 per calendar month (pcm) says Rightmove.

Despite the rise in average rents, this is the smallest increase across Great Britain excluding London at this time of year since 2020.

Rightmove says an increase in buy-to-let lending is helping to bring more supply into the rental market. The latest snapshot from UK Finance shows that at the start of this year, the number of new buy-to-let loans is up by 32% compared to the start of last year.

Another factor likely helping is a transition from some renters into the first-time buyer market. In the first quarter of 2025, the number of sales being agreed in the typical first-time buyer sector was 7% higher than the same period a year ago, while the number of prospective new first-time buyers getting in touch to move was 5% higher. A rush to move before stamp duty tax rose in England from 1^st April, and slightly improved mortgage rates compared with last year, encouraged activity.

In the rental market, compared with pre-pandemic 2019, the number of tenants looking to move is still 10% higher, and the number of available properties is 33% lower. This highlights the persisting imbalance between supply and demand despite the market easing.

Rightmove says this ongoing mismatch between supply and demand means that a typical rental home across Great Britain this quarter is still receiving 12 enquiries. While this has cooled from an average of 16 at the start of last year, it is still more than double the average of five seen over the first three months of 2019.

However, there are regional variations in supply and demand dynamics, which will likely make the market feel even busier in some local areas.

London currently has the best balance of supply and demand, though there are still an average of eight applications for every property. By contrast, a typical rental home in the North West gets 18 enquiries.

A knock-on impact of cooler demand and increasing choice for tenants appears to be an increase in the number of rental homes that see a reduction in the advertised price.

A quarter of rental properties are seeing a reduction in the advertised price, the most at this time of year since 2018.

It is also a sign of stretched affordability, with more landlords having to reduce the advertised price to find a tenant.

Over the last five years, average rent rises have outpaced increases in wages. Average earnings are up by 31% since 2020, versus a 40% increase in rents.