The number of availablerental propertiesis at the lowest since records began a year ago whilst demand for accommodation rose in January 2015, the latest figures from the Association of Residential Letting Agents has shown.
After a period of gentle decline, the number of properties registered per letting agent branch dropped by 5% to 172 in January –10 fewer than in December.
David Cox, managing director, Association of Residential Letting Agents, said: "Supply of housing continues to be a problem and tenants bear the brunt of this with more people competing for properties at higher prices.
"The majority of tenants find that it is impossible to save very much at the end of the month to put towards buying their own home. Our recent Cost of Renting reportfound that a fifth of those renting in the UK do not expect to ever be able to afford to buy a home, and unless we act soon to build more properties, this number will only get higher."
Scotland has the most available property with 280 properties available per member branch, while the supply of rental properties in London is 59% less, with only 116 properties per branch.
However, the capital has seen a slight increase in the number of properties available over the last month, rising from 108 in December 2015.
Demand for rental accommodation picked up in January following a seasonal lull in December, with an average of 31 prospective tenants now registered per branch. However, it has not returned to the high levels reported in January and February last year, when there were 38 and 40 tenants registered per branch respectively.
Withgrowing demand the number of agents reporting rent hikes for tenants increased in January, with three in 10(30%) reporting an increase in rent – the highest since September 2015.
