The proportion of landlords raising rents increased sharply in March, while  the number of new prospective tenants on letting agents’ books climbed for the third month in a row, according to Arla Propertymark.

The trade body says there were 84 tenants per branch in March compared to 82 in February.

However, at the same time the supply of rental homes contracted with the average number of properties managed by each branch shrinking from 195 to 193 month on month.

This imbalance may have contributed to the jump in the number of agents reporting that landlords on their books had raised rents, from 49% in February to 60% in March.

Looking back to March 2019, this figure was just 30%, but there is no direct comparison for this time last year as the survey was put on hold during housing market shutdown.

The West Midlands had the highest number of new tenants registered per branch of any region last month, with an average of 157, but also the most available properties at 260. 

Scotland had the lowest number of new tenants, with an average of just 31 per branch and London had the fewest properties at 128.

The number of tenants successfully negotiating rent reductions fell to 1.7% in March, from 2% the previous month. 

This is the lowest figure since October last year when it also stood at 1.7%

The number of landlords selling their buy-to-let properties remained the same for the sixth month in a row, at an average of four per branch in March. 

This was in line with March 2019 and March 2018.

However, research published yesterday by Paragon suggests that more landlords are looking to buy than sell over the coming 12 months.

Propertymark chief policy adviser Mark Hayward says: “It’s great to see that the rental market is continuing to boom as demand for rental properties rises. 

“Of course, as demand rises and the number of properties decreases, rent prices will inflate, but we would encourage letting agents to continue to support landlords and their tenants throughout the ongoing Covid-19 difficulties where possible and ultimately it is positive to see rent flowing and incomes returning for many people.”