The UK’s rental market showed signs of weakness last month, as the number of homes to let fell as uncertainty and a lack of supply restricted choice for potential renters.

The latest Property Activity Index from Agency Express shows that there were lower levels of activity in the private rented market in February. Across the UK, the number of new listing ‘to let’ fell by 13.8%, marking the largest month-on-month decline for February since the index’s began in 2012. However, properties that were ‘let’ in February did manage to increase their prices by 3.4% on average, according to the Index.

Stephen Watson, managing director of Agency Express, said: “The Property Activity Index historically shows us a drop in figures throughout February. However, this month we have seen a greater fall than in years previous, an impact of the buy-to-let changes which will undoubtedly (continue to) affect the market.”