A quarter of letting agents reported rent hikes for agents last month – the lowest number of agents reporting rent rises this year.

According to ARLA, the number of letting agents reporting rent increases fell to 25% in October, down from 32% in September.

Agents also reported drop in demand, with 33 new tenants on average registering per branch – again, the lowest number this year.

The London rental market bucked the trend, with 42 prospective tenants in October, up from 39 in February.

Separately, franchise chain Belvoir said average rents have gone up by just 3.5% since the third quarter of 2008.

Belvoir director Dorian Gonsalves said: “Clearly the market is far from spiraling out of control in terms of rental increases, although this has been repeatedly suggested in media reports.”