Under the government’s reforms, the age threshold for the Shared Room Rate (SRR) in Housing Benefit is set to rise from 25 to 35 from April 2012.

The reform will mean that around 260,000 Housing Benefit recipients currently between the 25-35 age thresholds will no longer qualify for their own flat or house, but would have to share accommodation instead.

Jonathan Moore, director of easyroommate.co.uk, said: “The private rental sector and the wider flatsharing market is creaking under the strain of matching the demand for accommodation of frustrated first-time buyers. The flood of new flatsharers onto the market is going to drive up the level of competition for rooms even further.

“For landlords, this is good news as they’ll be able to raise rents, pocketing an extra £30 a month. But current tenants will have a gloomier outlook as residential property rents look set to mirror that upwards trend.”

Currently, the UK’s flatsharing population stands at 2.76m. If all those eligible in the new age group took the benefit and moved into shared rented homes, this could rise to 3.02m – a rise of 9.4%.

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The average UK rent for a flatsharer stands at £348 per month. Easyroommate.co.uk calculates that a 9.4% increase in the number of flat mates competing for the same level of accommodation could push rents up to £381 per month.