A lettings agency says only 32.4% of homes on the housing market in London are available to rent – far short of the demand. 

Of around 109,060 properties listed for sale or rent, just 35,324 are in the lettings sector according to Bernham and Reeves.

The imbalance is most pronounced in several south and east London boroughs where the majority of available homes are for sale rather than rent.

Bromley shows the greatest disparity, with 84.8% of current listings for sale and just 15.2% available to rent. Bexley follows with rentals accounting for only 17.3% of the market.

There’s a short supply elsewhere, too – Havering (18%), Sutton (18.8%), Enfield (23.2%), Croydon (24%), Greenwich (24.5%) and Lewisham (25%).

However, it’s a different picture in much of central London, where the lettings market has been hit by over-supply in some areas. 

Kensington & Chelsea has 50.9% of its listings for sale and 49.1% for rent. 

In Westminster it’s 47.4% rentals, followed by Camden (44.1%), Islington (40.2%) and Tower Hamlets (38.3%).

Agency director Marc von Grundherr says: “The London market is rarely uniform and these figures highlight just how localised the balance has become.

“The lower rental stock levels mean that those properties that are available command strong rental values and yields for buy to let investors.

“Demand profiles shift significantly from one borough to the next, shaped by affordability, property type, transport links and local amenities.

“For renters in some outer boroughs, the current imbalance does make the search more challenging, while in prime central locations the depth of rental stock reflects the needs of a more transient and globally mobile population.”