The number of properties available to rent in the UK’s 21 major cities has dropped significantly since Covid-19 restrictions eased, according to an analysis carried out by Octane Capital.

It says that prior to the pandemic, at the end of 2019, there were 82,726 properties available to rent across the UK’s urban areas, which moved to an eventual high of 171,080 by the end of 2020.

Today, Octane Capital says, this number has shrunk to 64,839 available properties – a 62% drop on the high and far below pre-Covid levels.

London tops the table for this metric, where available properties have fallen by 74% since the end of 2020, followed by Edinburgh, which has lost 69%, and Aberdeen, where the market has shrunk by 64%.

Portsmouth, Leicester, and Birmingham have seen the slowest rate of rental properties being taken, with their markets shrinking by 14%, 24,% and 26%, respectively.

Octane Capital chief executive Jonathan Samuels says: “This [report] will make for extremely welcome reading by the nation’s landlords who have suffered greatly due to dwindling demand during the pandemic, forcing them to massively reduce their rental income expectations while also suffering from lengthy void periods.

“It’s fair to say that we couldn’t find ourselves in a more different place at present and if anything, there is now a shortage of suitable rental stock to meet this returning demand.

“As a result, we’re seeing sharp growth in rental incomes and while this won’t negate the impact of the last two years, it will certainly help steady the ship moving forward.”