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The twisted logic of the private rental market has produced some astounding data for the property portal Zoopla.
The website says the buy-to-let market is cooling - a signal for letting agents to look for top quality homes to rent for prestige tenants rather than generating stacks of sometimes poor leads.
In turn, the number of inquiries from potential renters has plunged to 4.8 per property.
This is the lowest inquiry-to-home ratio since 2020. A key reason for the dwindling number of renters is cited as greater availability of mortgages for first-time buyers, allowing them to move from renting to homeownership.
But at the same time, letting agent inventories have risen by 11 per cent in the past 12 months, but the number of homes to rent has decreased by 23 per cent since the Coronavirus pandemic.
Other factors affecting the rental market include:
The Zoopla Rental Market Report: March 2026 says: "The rental market is becoming more balanced as demand falls and supply improves. This is easing pressure on renters and slowing the pace of rent increases. Rents are still rising in most areas. However, the pace of growth is much slower than during the peak of the rental boom in 2023.
"Demand for rental homes is 14 per cent lower than a year ago and the lowest level for 6 years. Lower migration is one reason for this change. Migration rose sharply after the pandemic and increased pressure on the rental market. More recently, migration for work and study has fallen back sharply, reducing the scale of competition for private rented homes.
"At the same time, improved mortgage conditions have helped more renters buy their first home. Three-quarters of first-time buyers are renters. When they move into home ownership, the homes they leave become available to rent again. This helps increase supply, boosts choice and reduces pressure on the pace of rental growth."
Meanwhile, separate research by property consultants Savills revealed the private rental sector contracted by around a record £48 billion last year - the largest fall in value in more than two decades.
The firm's analysis estimates that buy-to-let has lost £79 billion over three years.
The loss arises from property disposals by landlords with single-let properties or small portfolios.
Lucian Cook, head of residential research at Savills, said: "Over the past 25 years, we've grown accustomed to a story of the private rented sector expanding at the expense of people's ability to get onto the housing ladder.
"But while deep-seated housing challenges remain, lighter regulation in the mortgage market and tighter oversight of the private rented sector are gradually beginning to shift that narrative."