London Property to Rent: Rental demand 'will outstrip supply into 2012'

The next couple of years will see strong demand for property to rent in London and other places, which will continue to outstrip supply.

This is the opinion of Chris Horne, editor at Property Hawk, who said: "Ultimately, first time buyers are still struggling to get finance and also because of the economy. There is quite a lot of uncertainty in terms of people's jobs so people tend to rent when they are not absolutely certain about the future, rather than committing to buying."

He explained: "With mortgage finance still quite difficult to get, I would imagine there is still strong rental demand," adding there is no surprise that the Association of Residential Letting Agents (Arla) is forecasting an increase.

Arla's research concluded that four in ten of its offices believe more private landlords will enter the market in the next 12 months, which will help tackle the short supply of rental properties.

London Property to Rent