Ms Beveridge said: “The large gap between market rates and what many tenants are paying is a big disincentive for them to move unless they have to. Moving increasingly means getting less home for more money.”
Official data released this week shows that more than 2,000 households face homelessness every month in England due to landlords fleeing the sector.
Commenting on the figures, Ben Beadle, of the National Residential Landlords Association, said that landlords selling up was the biggest challenge renters face.
“The only answer is to ensure responsible landlords have the confidence to stay in the market and sustain tenancies,” he added.
Last year, 140,000 landlords sold up while 100,000 entered the sector, according to Hamptons.
Although year-on-year rental stock was up 28pc, the rate of growth has slowed, having peaked at 34pc in January 2024.
These figures also do not include properties added to the market by institutional “build-to-rent” investors.
However, Hamptons said this has not been enough to stem the overall fall in rental stock.
Separate data from Rightmove has found that 50,000 rental properties are needed to bring the supply of rental homes back to pre-pandemic levels.
