The rent charged by one in five landlords in outer London is lower now than it was a year ago.

That’s according to the National Landlords Association (NLA), which declared the finding good news “for avocado toast lovers” – an apparent reference to a PR campaign by Strutt & Parker which backfired badly last year after it tried to encourage millennials to give up some of life’s luxuries to save for a deposit.

The news came as the ONS’ private rental price index, which tracks the growth of private rental prices in the UK, continues to slow, caused mainly by a slowdown in London.

The research also showed that the proportion of landlords who have been able to increase rents in outer London (23%) is the second lowest in the UK over the same period – only the north east (18%) was lower.

The net proportion of landlords increasing their rents in outer London over the last year was 7%, in contrast to areas commutable to London such as the east of England and south east, where it was 44% and 29% respectively.

In central London, 14% of landlords decreased rents over the same time period.

More landlords with properties in the south west (42%) increased their rents in the last year, and in the east midlands, only 1% of landlords decreased their rents.

Richard Lambert, CEO of the NLA said: “These findings do not mean London is suddenly going to become more affordable for renters, but it seems to confirm that the trend of a softening of tenant demand in the capital is well-established.

“Both landlords and tenants are continuing to look outside of the capital to other centres and areas commutable to London which, if anything, will only serve to push up prices in those regions.”