The average rental property is going for its full asking price as tenants’ negotiating power diminishes.

This morning, Countrywide said that the average home for let achieves 99.9% of its asking price, the highest since 2007.

In London, the average rent agreed is just over the asking price, at 100.9%. In Wales, the proportion is lower at 98.7% – but still close to the price asked.

According to Countrywide, 12% of lets were agreed at more than the initial asking price over the last year.

The figure is highest in London, where one in five tenants pay more than asked. On average they pay an extra £94 a month, which over an average 17-month tenancy equates to an extra £1,578 rent in total.

Across the UK as a whole, tenants who pay above the asking price hand over an extra £44 per month. In Wales, this drops to an extra £24 per month.

According to Countrywide, London has had the largest pace of growth in rents anywhere in the country since 2007, with rents 34% above their pre-recession record compared with 12% across the UK as a whole.

Despite these increases, the proportion of lets agreed at more than the asking price has risen in every year since 2008 demonstrating the continuing balance of power towards landlords. In 2008 just 3.5% of deals were agreed at above the asking price while 23.5% of tenants were able to negotiate money off the asking rent.

By this year, the proportion of tenants able to renegotiate prices down has plummeted to 8%.

Johnny Morris, research director at Countrywide, said: “The combined effect of growing numbers of people renting and a lack of supply has seen tenants’ ability to negotiate diminish.

“Tenants are having to compete more often and with more people in order to rent the home they want, meaning they need to offer more to stay ahead of the crowd.”

The average UK rent, as at February, is £926, Countrywide reports.