A new breed of UK landlord is cropping up, thanks to an increased numbers of homeowners who can't sell their properties for the price they want, so choose to rent them out instead.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said the phenomenon was caused by a slump in the UK sales market, which led to a dramatic rise in rental properties in some areas.

However, at this stage the effects of increased supply were not uniform across the country, and many areas still experienced an increased demand from tenants pushing up rental prices, said RICS.

This was due to the numbers of first-time buyers who wanted to buy prior to the credit crunch but were now forced to rent instead, soaking up the increased supply.

Further up the chain, other homeowners were selling and then opting to rent to see if they could buy more for their money further down the track.

"Frustrated vendors have been placing their property in the market to let as they have been unable to agree sales due to a lack of demand in the housing market," a RICS spokesperson said.

"Many would-be buyers have been forced to rent as the route to mortgage finance has been blocked."
According to RICS, 43 per cent more of its members reported a rise than a fall in landlord instructions during the three months to July. This was up 13 percentage points from the previous quarter.

The RICS findings were somewhat unexpected after recent reports that rental supply was starting to exceed demand. This was especially true of rents in central London, which were said to be falling because of the increased supply.

The RICS survey also found that landlords who had already invested were less likely than ever to sell up - only 2.1 per cent said they would sell when their tenants' leases expired.