The demand on rental property has risen consistently as the number of first time home buyers has declined. Hopeful home buyers have been shut out of the market due to difficulty in obtaining lending. This has led to higher demands on the rental property and the buy to let market has been seeing a new revival.

As demand has increased so has rent value which has aided in drawing in new landlords to the property investment market. The average rent in England and Wales rose by 0.2 per cent to £684 a month. The data on rental property from LSL Property Services showed that when compared to February 2010 that there had been an increase in costs for an average tenant of 3.9 per cent.

The buy to let market is growing and lenders are starting to meet the needs of landlords by bringing buy to let remortgage and mortgage products to them. This is needed for landlords to better meet the demand for private rental housing. However, landlords are facing the same restrictions in lending that would be home buyers are facing.

David Newnes, Managing Director of LSL Property Services, said: "The fierce competition among renters in many areas of the country has cut short the traditional lull we tend to see between December and February.

"The consistently constrained level of lending to home buyers has bolstered demand - and rents - in the private rental sector during what is typically a slower period.

"Around 158,000 fewer first-time buyers were unable to enter the market in the last 12 months, compared with three years ago.

"With the mortgage market even more sluggish since the start of 2011, this backlog of frustrated buyers has increased even further and rents have risen correspondingly."