Landlords are experiencing increasing levels of tenant demand with 92% of respondents saying that demand is stable, growing or booming, says Paragon Mortgages.

This is the second highest level on record; the highest was in Q4 of 2006. Paragon’s survey also found that the average void period on a private rented property has dropped 2% on the last quarter. On average landlords’ properties are empty only 2.96 weeks a year which, with continued high demand, is likely to fall further.

These findings are on the back of other indicators of strong tenant demand in the market. The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors’ recently announced that tenant demand is rising at its fastest pace for nine years, with 30% more surveyors reporting a rise, rather than a fall in demand. The Association of Residential Letting Agents has also found that the demand for rented residential properties has continued to outstrip supply especially in central London, where 62% of respondents now say there are more tenants than there are properties available to them.

John Heron, director of Paragon Mortgages, said: “We have been running this survey for five years, and have seen a very strong trend of growing tenant demand throughout this period. But recently, in both our own research and that of others, we’ve seen demand for private rented accommodation hit new peaks. Demographic influences that underpin the private rented sector are all continuing to rise, which bodes well for continued healthy growth of the buy-to-let sector.”