Recent research shows that 32% of residential landlords have increased their rents towards tenants during the first quarter of the year, according to buy-to-let mortgage specialist Paragon Mortgages.

One in 10 landlords said that rental income across their portfolio rose by up to 2% during the period, with a further 10% stating that it rose by between 2% and 4%. However, nearly 5% of respondents said that rental income had risen by more than 8%.

Nigel Terrington, Paragon Group Chief Executive, said: “Supply and demand dictates rental pricing and landlords are experiencing significant tenant demand for their properties at present. Obviously landlords do not want to make rented accommodation unaffordable, but a considerable proportion of them have been able to make small increases to their overall rental income during the first quarter of 2011.

“Government figures show that nearly 300,000 extra households moved into privately rented accommodation in England alone last year and that is placing increasing strain on stock in the sector. It is encouraging that buy-to-let lending increased by 22% during 2010, but more needs to be done to ensure that the private rented sector can expand to sufficiently meet tenant demand.”

The Communities and Local Governments ‘English Housing Report’ published in February, shows that the number of households renting privately has risen by one million since 2005-06, from 2.4 million to 3.4 million in 2009-10. The PRS now accounts for 15.6% of all households in England, up from 14.2% in 2008-09 and 11.7% in 2005-06. This equates to nearly one in every six households.