According to the latest industry research, between March and September this year, the cost of renting fell by 7.9 per cent in London and 7.7 per cent in the South East.
Other areas seeing reductions include the East of England (3.1 per cent) as well as Yorkshire and the Humber (2.5 per cent).
The impact of the Coronavirus pandemic means that the typical monthly rent is now £1,519 in London and £1,061 in the South East.
Experts believe that many landlords are paying the price of an eviction ban that has seen them go without any rental income for months on end as tenants struggle to pay their rent due to job losses.
Calum Brannan, Founder and Chief Executive of lettings management platform Howsy, said: “To see such a considerable reduction in rent levels across the board highlights the prevalence of the financial hardship many tenants are facing across England and Wales and, of course, this is no fault of their own.
Rents have already been consistently increasing across England and Wales for some time due to the lack of suitable rental stock to meet overwhelming demand.
“However, having been left high and dry, many landlords face no other choice but to start eviction proceedings. This will see them face many months more without any rental income and so it may take some time before rent levels recover to those seen pre-lockdown.
“Should they decide to leave the sector, an inadequate level of stock will shrink even further.”
The data was released at the same time as separate research which found that almost two-thirds of London renters (60 per cent) are considering leaving the capital for the coast to seek cheaper living costs.
