UK rental market 'still strong'

The survey, covering the three months to the end of May, shows the average length of time a property lay empty before being rented out was 29 days, unchanged from February. However, landlords in London and the south east could be in trouble as 80% of agents in the capital report a "severe oversupply of rental properties". London rental properties remained empty for 36 days on average, the survey showed.

Typically properties outside London and the south east continued to generate the highest returns for their owners. Across the UK, landlords managed to recoup 5.8% of their properties' value from tenants every year, compared with just 5.6% in London.