Demand is still outstripping supply in the private rented sector, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

And this imbalance is set to push up rents further.

In its latest UK Residential Market Survey, the trade association said there were further pressures placed on the availability of rental properties, as landlords were being encouraged to sell up due to interest rate rises, proposals to abolish Section 21 and the Government’s Renters (Reform) Bill.

Surveyors noted they saw more tenants and fewer landlords in May.

RICS senior economist, Tarrant Parsons, said: “Interest rate rises are impacting the rental sector and combined with looming reforms proposed in the government’s Renters (Reform) Bill, landlords are increasingly deciding to leave the sector and sell up property, causing further constraints to lettings supply.”

Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown, added: “Higher mortgage rates are hitting the beleaguered rental market.

“Reports from the agents read as increasingly desperate cries for help, as the imbalance in the market gets worse with each passing month.

“Landlords have been selling after concluding new legislation was too expensive to comply with, and they’ve now been joined by a swathe of buy-to-let lenders, who realise that, once they remortgage, higher rates mean the maths no longer adds up. Two-thirds of agents say more buy-to-let landlords are trying to sell.

“Rents are rising rapidly, and RICS expects these increases to average 6% in the coming years.”