According to Rightmove figures, this is an increase from eight rental enquiries per property in 2019, equal to the 55th position in the current rankings.
The firm said that local letting agents say the stock shortage has been aggravated by landlords selling at the peak of the pandemic and renters staying in properties for longer.
Rightmove said that the number of tenants enquiring about each available rental property has grown significantly over the past few years due to the mismatch between supply and demand.
Redbridge in London took the second spot on the list with an average of 49 enquiries per available rental property, up from 11 in 2019, and Tameside in Greater Manchester came third with an average of 48 enquiries, an increase from 14 in 2019.
The report said that in Great Britain the typical rental home on the market received an average of 20 enquiries per property this year, a rise from six in 2019.
Rental market will improve next year
Rightmove said that there were signs that the balance between supply and demand will improve next year.
The number of properties to rent has gone up by 11 per cent compared to the same period this year, and the number of renters looking for a home and sending enquiries to estate agents is 12 per cent down compared to this time in 2022.
Although the gap between supply and demand is improving, but tenant demand is 42 per cent higher than this time in 2019 and the number of available rental properties is 28 per cent lower.
Rightmove added that the “early signs of improvement” suggest that the average rise in advertised rents would be lower next year compared to the last few years.
In the past year, newly advertised rents have gone up by around 10 per cent inside London and six per cent outside the capital.
The company said that it forecasted a five per cent increase by the end of 2024 outside of London and with a three per cent increase in London.
Rightmove’s property expert Tim Bannister said: “The balance between supply and demand has been slowly improving this year, and while it will likely be a long time yet before we reach the more normal market levels of 2019, the early signs of improvement are promising heading into 2024.
“The increase in available homes for rents we’re seeing is likely to be a combination of some longer-term leases agreed during the pandemic years coming to an end, some new developments across the country being converted into rental homes, some landlords choosing to sell up, and also other landlords now returning who temporarily switched to the short-let market.”
He added: “There are still far more renters looking to move than there are homes available which means we still expect rents to rise on average next year. But these early signs of a better balance of supply and demand means we predict rents will rise by a smaller figure of five per cent next year, rather than another year of double-digit rental growth.”
