The house purchase market in London has started to cool due to a combination of factors, according to estate agents Benham & Reeves.

It said the changes to stamp duty, tougher mortgage rules and the strength of the pound against international currencies had contributed to the slowdown.

This has turned the spotlight back to the rental market and with many Londoners still unable to buy demand has increased across most London postcodes.

This has caused further increases in rents which have typically risen by between two and four per cent in the last three months.

Perennially popular areas such as South Kensington saw rents grow by 7% but this was beaten by many parts of east London, including Bethnal Green and Bow where rents leapt by 11%.

Notting Hill saw rents decrease more than anywhere else in the capital as they declined by 1.5%.

Marc von Grundherr, lettings director of Benham & Reeves Residential Lettings, said people were renting for longer before purchasing a place of their own.

“George Osborne reformed the stamp duty system in his autumn statement last December, it had a huge impact on the property market in London,” he said.

“Most homebuyers in London are paying considerably more in stamp duty with the top rate now standing at a staggering 12 per cent. Inevitably, people are choosing to rent rather than buy and even those who are hoping to buy will end up renting for longer to save for this additional cost. The stamp duty changes have been a gift horse for many landlords who have seen rents stagnate over the last few quarters.”