Of those questioned, 90% said they were planning to increase rents with 51% saying they were going to increase their rents by 3%.
However, a 5% increase was being planned by 33% of landlords, with 6% saying they were going to increase rents by 10%.
Demand for private rental properties surges
The survey was carried out by The Online Letting Agents and Eleanor Carroll, a director of the firm, said landlords were increasingly confident about the future demand for rental property and that property prices were increasing.
However, it also appears that landlords are also preparing for a mortgage rate rise in the near future.
The most recent buy-to-let index figures from LSL Property Services revealed that rents in the UK had only risen by £5 in the past year to £741 a month.
Regional rent variations but landlords make profit
Ms Carroll said: “These figures (from LSL) don't reflect variations on rent prices regionally. For instance, there's a huge demand for rental property in the south-east and London which is pushing up prices.
“In parts of Essex, for instance, rents have been increased by more than 30% year-on-year.”
She added that it was 'understandable' that landlords were increasingly keen to increase rents and that their confidence was running high.
The firm's figures also revealed that around a third of landlords are planning to expand their buy to let portfolios this year despite escalating property prices but they are keen to use attractive buy to let mortgages to do so.
Ms Carroll said: “A typical buy to let investor has seen a 10.3% return in the past year because of rapidly growing house prices which have added nearly £17,000 on average to a price.”
Rent prices in London and South East soar
Meanwhile, new figures on the rents being paid around the UK have been released by Homelet, the landlord insurance firm, who say that year-on-year rents have increased by 7%. There was a 2.9% increase in March alone.
This means that rents being charged by buy to let landlords are now an average of £848.
However, the figures aren’t reflecting the true picture because the biggest rental increases were seen in London where the average rent being paid is £1,348, which has set a new record for the firm.
A spokesman for the firm said: “Tenants in Greater London are paying higher rents anywhere else, including the region, where the next highest average is in the South East.
“Our data shows that rents in Greater London have reached a new high and tenants there are currently paying rent that is almost double to the rest of the UK.”
