An agent has coined the word ‘Brental’ to describe the London property market, with wealthy buyers switching to become rental applicants in the hope and expectation of seeing house prices drop.

Rob Hill, of Greater London Properties in the West End, said the trend has been largely caused by agents over-valuing properties to win the instruction, and then having to slash prices.

Hill said: “There have been sensationalist articles about properties previously priced at £1,000,000 dropping to £900,000 and talk of a crisis.

“One thing that does seem to be lost on a number of journalists is that asking prices often do not reflect the real market value; the property was never worth that price in the first place.

“The majority of vendors are delighted with the initial valuation and whole-heartedly agree since they are already convinced due to an online valuation they have carried out as well as a neighbour down the road putting their property on for similar.

“It’s far too early to comment on the impact of Brexit on London property prices, as there are so many factors that could either drive down or increase them in certain sectors. The market for properties valued in excess of £2m is not as active, but in prime central London this is not due to Brexit – it’s been happening for some time.

“The increase in available stock and the limited pool of applicants who can afford this, coupled with the 3% Stamp Duty surcharge, are the drivers of this.

“One thing that we can report is an increase in Brental.

“All this upheaval and uncertainty has led to a surge in buyers switching to becoming rental applicants.

“Why not rent and see if prices fall?

“Granted, July is the start of silly season in central London for letting agents and it’s normal to see an increase in applicants registering, but we are hearing from a number of buyers that they plan to rent now for a year or two to see if there is a price correction.”

It appears to be wealthy sellers as well as buyers who are holding off making decisions in London by using the rental market in the interim.

Lucy Morton, of JLL, said that a larger than usual number of rental properties have come on the market with their owners wanting rental agreements with break clauses that will allow them to sell if the market changes.