Surveyors expect to see rent rises in the New Year as the number of rental properties coming on to the market fell for the first time since January 2008. That’s the conclusion of the latest lettings survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

The recent pick-up in the housing market seems to have led to a drop in the number of rental properties, particularly houses, being made available and, as a result, surveyor optimism has increased for the first time since July 2008. Some 22 per cent more surveyors expect rents to rise rather than fall in the next three months.

The drop-off in supply is the main driver for the more positive sentiment, with new instructions reaching their lowest levels in the survey’s history (1998). Jeremy Leaf, the RICS spokesperson, comments: “It seems the current upward trend in the housing market is having a more significant effect on the lettings market, with many of the accidental landlords returning to the sales market, to take advantage of the recent price increases. As a result, the recent oversupply is reversing, with new instructions at the lowest levels we have seen. This, of course, is impacting on prices and tenants no longer have as strong a bargaining power as they did.”

This is good news for Knight Frank, which is letting a three-bedroom flat on a private road in Belsize Park, north London, at an asking price of £1,650 per week. This duplex apartment is dominated by a 27ft reception room with double-height ceiling, skylights, stripped wood floor and spiral staircase up to mezzanine level. The kitchen features granite worktops and a full range of appliances; the master bedroom has an en-suite shower and there are two additional bedrooms, a contemporary bathroom, a roof terrace and a balcony.

Chalcot Gardens is in Belsize Village, on Englands Lane, close to shops, cafés and restaurants. It is a ten-minute walk to Swiss Cottage tube station (Jubilee Line) and a five-minute walk to Belsize Park (Northern Line).