Landlords and buy-to-let investors appear to have returned to the market following the post-Stamp Duty lull in April, Rightmove has claimed.

The portal’s Rental Trends Tracker for the third quarter of 2016 found that buyer enquiries from potential landlords and investors are now up 30% since May, following a short-term dip as additional Stamp Duty charges came in on April 1.

New rental listings on the portal this quarter are 6% higher than in 2015, Rightmove says.

Average rents were up 0.5% on the quarter and 3.2% annually to £779. That is down from quarterly growth of 2.7% and yearly increases of 4.1% in the second quarter.

Rents continue to fall in London, down 0.7% on the previous quarter and down 1.5% annually to £1,885 a month.

The most in demand areas outside of London were Ashton-Under-Lyne in Greater Manchester where average rents on a two-bed property were £524 a month. This was followed by Wellingborough in Northamptonshire where average rents were £660.

Rightmove also looked at the returns landlords making last minute purchases before April 1 would have received by looking at capital price growth and average rents since the Stamp Duty changes.

The best total return was in Southend, Essex, where asking prices increased from £187,515 in the first quarter to £210,353 in the third and average rent was £4,816, giving a total return on investment of 14.7%.

In London the top total returns were found in East Croydon (13.8%) and Greenford (13.4%).

Sam Mitchell, head of lettings for Rightmove, said: “Investor activity has bounced back following the stamp duty changes, though some agents report that many investors are looking to knock sellers down on their asking prices to make up for the additional Stamp Duty they now need to pay. New rental supply has held up despite concerns that the Stamp Duty changes would lead to less fresh stock.”