A trade association says that the oncoming general election can give the incoming government the impetus to encourage new landlords into the sector, as past and present measures are causing a mass exodus.

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David Cox, the CE of the association, said: “With the possibility of a general election approaching, we hope that the government recognises the importance of increasing supply for tenants and uses it as an opportunity to make the market more attractive for landlords."

Cox made his comments following the associations'' latest rental market survey which shows that during September less tenants had to cope with increases in rents, this is in spite 58% of agents saying that they were experiencing an increase in rents.

In September 58% of agents said that more rents have been increased than the same month last year when 31% of agents registered an increase in rents, and in September 2017 it was 27%.

Cox said: “While the number of tenants experiencing an increase in rent has dropped marginally [on a monthly basis] rent prices remain alarmingly high as they have done since the Tenant Fees Act came into effect."

He added: “It’s also concerning to see that the number of properties managed per letting agent branch has fallen. As supply falls, competition amongst tenants increases which further drives up rent costs."

Members reported that the average number of properties managed by each branch fell from 197 in August down to 193 in September.

This is only slightly lower than last year's September of 194 managed properties per branch, but is higher than September 2017's 189.