The lettings market is suffering from an accelerated rate of falling rents due to an oversupply of properties, according to research.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has said that 55% more chartered surveyors in Britain reported falling rents during the first three months to the end of April.

This is up from 48% during the last quarter, and the number is the highest since the survey began in 1999.

Property yields have also dropped for the first time since April 2007, which suggests that rents are declining at a faster rate than house prices.

However surveyors are predicting that the rate at which rents are declining will slow down as the housing market begins to recover, and sellers put their homes back on the market, in turn reducing the oversupply of properties.

Around a quarter of surveyors have predicted a fall in rents in the coming months, almost half the 41% that predicted further falls in the previous three months.

The rate at which new properties came onto the market was also slower, with 17% more surveyors reporting a rise in rental flats, compared with 44% in the previous quarter, and 12% reporting an increase in houses, compared with 49% in the previous quarter.

The figures also show that landlords who would consider selling their property when the current tenancy ends has risen from 0.2% to 1.8% in the previous quarter. In the first three months leading up to April tenant demand for rental property increased however as buyers went back to the housing market this was at a slower rate.

In the first three months leading up to January 42% of surveyors reported an increase in new lettings, this is down to 16% of surveyors in the current period.

RICS spokesperson Jeremy Leaf said: "Property transactions are starting to rise from very low levels and the influx of supply in the rental market has slowed as vendors begin to find buyers.

"Demand for rental property is still high but tenants have been able to take advantage of a flooded market to negotiate lower deals.

"Even so, the downward pressure on rents should ease in the coming months providing some good news for landlords."

Housing markets in Scotland and London have suffered, with 85% more surveyors in London reporting a fall in rents. In Scotland 80% more surveyors reported a decline in rents for flats and houses compared with 58% in the last quarter.

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