Across the UK’s major cities an average of just 33.2% of all stock listed is to let rather than buy, while across London’s boroughs this increases to 37.1%.

The toughest place to find a rental property to rent in the UK is Newport in Wales where just 13.5% of the stock listed is available for rent. Bristol comes in second and takes top spot in England at 15.8%. This is followed by Glasgow at 16.4% which has the lowest property rental stock in Scotland.

Across the Irish Sea, Belfast ranks as the city with the fourth-lowest level of rental stock at 16.8%, with Plymouth rounding out the top five at just 24.9%.

When it comes to an abundance of rental stock, Aberdeen tops the charts with 62.2% of all properties listed on the portals for rent. Newcastle ranks second with 53.5% followed by Oxford (47.3%), London (42.1%) and Southampton (41.2%).

Looking at the capital on a borough level, Bexley ranks as the worst area for rental stock availability with just 15.2% of property listed on the portals available for tenants, not homebuyers.

Havering (16.4%), Bromley (18.7%), Sutton (21.4%) and Croydon (23.7%) also rank amongst the lowest, while Westminster is home to the highest at 62%.

CEO of Howsy, Calum Brannan, commented: “This data not only suggests where tenants might struggle to find a place to rent due to an imbalance of rental to sale stock but perhaps also where has seen the largest exodus of buy-to-let landlords due to recent changes in legislation with lettings stock dwindling while the amount of property for sale increases.

It makes sense that in cities dominated by industry, such as Aberdeen or Newcastle, and in those with the least affordable price tags, such as London and Oxford, there is a higher tendency to rent and therefore more rental properties as a proportion of all homes listed.

However, it also highlights that in areas such as Newport, Bristol and Glasgow where rental stock is very low, there is a real opportunity for the professional buy-to-let landlord due to a higher level of tenant demand with a lower investment cost.

Whichever way you look at it, we’re seeing a shift in lifestyle trends towards a greater acceptance of renting on a longer-term basis with the scramble to own our own homes taking a back seat, and so it’s important that the level of rental stock available is cultivated to meet demand across the UK.”

Data sourced from Rightmove and Zoopla. Rental percentage = rental properties listed as a percentage of total properties (rental properties + sale properties).