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The trend for reluctant landlords appears to be coming to an end as letting agents report a drop in rental properties coming onto the market because they cannot be sold.

The reluctant landlord has been a key symptom of the housing crisis in the UK – people desperate to sell their property having to turn to the rental market to pay their mortgages. Over the last year it has become a growing phenomenon, and something that was eating into the rental profits of the buy to let landlord proper.

But research from the Association of Residential Letting Agents shows that 80% of its members' offices have seen property being rented out rather than sold. This figure has dropped from a high of 95% of offices in November 2008 when consumer confidence and house prices dipped.

Ian Potter, Operations Manager of ARLA, said: "Many sellers were left with little option other than to rent their properties out earlier in the year but this trend seems to be slowly diminishing. There are, however, still a huge number of these reluctant landlords in the market who need to understand the obligations of a landlord to their tenants and the need importance of choosing a regulated and qualified letting agent."

The rental market is still under pressure, but this is good news for anyone who has begun to see his or her buy to let profits suffer from increased competition. As house prices stay firm into the Autumn, landlords can be more confident that their market will begin to normalise.

SOURCE: ARLA, 31/08/09

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