Enquiries from wannabe tenants are on the increase, particularly for short stays ranging from two weeks to six months.

Kate Marshall from Marsh & Parsons in Barnes says some people are coming to London for the summer, either on secondment or holiday, while others need somewhere to stay while carrying out works on their current home.

“Landlords can maximise their investment due to the shortage of property available for short lets, demanding a far higher price than normal. In some cases, the increase has been 40 per cent above the price usually achieved with a longer let of six months or more,” suggests Marshall.

The long let market also remains buoyant, with good property coming onto the market and demand still at very high levels, which should continue over the summer, adds Marshall.

The market remains busy in Battersea and Clapham, points out Nick Goble of Winkworth, with the usual imbalance of tenants to properties available.

“This has been compounded by an influx of newly elected and re-elected MPs looking for property through the newly formed Winkworth MP Service – WMPS. It was initially thought that only new MPs would be looking for rental homes, but it is evident that due to changes in the mortgage allowance and new procedures imposed by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, many re-elected MPs are opting to sell their existing homes and rent. This has lead to them looking further afield to places like Battersea and Clapham,” Goble explains.

Ironically, we have moved from a market dominated by ‘accidental’ landlords – people who couldn’t sell their homes who ended up reluctantly letting them – to ‘accidental’ tenants, says Ivor Dickinson from Douglas & Gordon.

“Rents on contracts that are coming up for renewal are up by 15 to 20 per cent,” he adds.