Letting agents and broker groups are warning tenants not to be fooled by current slow rental growth.

ARLA Propertymark has warned that rental property supply has hit a seven-month low as agents warn of more landlord exits and subsequent rent hikes.

Its Private Rented Sector (PRS) report found the supply of properties available to rent fell to 183 in November from 198 in October.

This is down 4% annually.

The warnings come despite the number of tenants experiencing rent increases falling for the third month running in November, with 21% of agents reporting that landlords increased rents, compared with 24% in October and 31% in September.

However, year-on-year the number of tenants experiencing rent rises is up from 16% in November 2017.

Agents also reported that demand from prospective tenants decreased in November, with the number of applicants registered per branch dropping to 55 on average, compared with 71 in October.

David Cox, chief executive of ARLA Propertymark, said: “It looks like tenants are starting to take control, with the number of landlords hiking rents falling for the third month in a row.

“However, as we look ahead to 2019, things don’t look as positive for tenants.

“Our members expect more landlords to be driven out of the market by rising costs, which will increase competition and push up rent costs. If we want to secure market stability in the new year, we need to increase stock, and making the market more attractive for buy-to-let investors is the only way this can be done.”

It comes as ONS data showed that annual rental growth in the UK remained at 0.9% for the fourth consecutive month during November.

In England, private rental prices grew by 1%, Wales experienced growth of 0.9%, while in Scotland rents increased by 0.5% in the 12 months to November 2018.

Rents in London were unchanged at 0.0%, but this was up from the 0.2% decrease in October 2018.

The UK annual growth figure was 1.4% when you exclude the capital.

Commenting on the data, Kate Davies, executive director of the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association, said: “Rental prices continue to be subdued and below the rate of consumer price inflation across much of the UK. Unfortunately, this disguises the fact that not all is well in the private rented sector.

“Buy-to-let lenders continue to sharply reduce their new investment in rental property as more landlords withdraw from an increasingly unprofitable venture. This isn’t a new phenomenon.

“Our 2017 white paper, ‘Buy to Let: under pressure’, showed that the series of tax and regulatory changes imposed on the buy-to-let market were stunting rental property investment, and this trend has continued through 2018.

“We continue to raise concerns that this will eventually work its way through to higher rents for tenants, which will in turn make it still harder for those who are trying to save for deposits to buy their own homes.”