Hamptons compared the number of newly agreed lets in the top and bottom deciles according to the government’s Index of Multiple Deprivation.
The gap between the two ends of the market is widening. In the month of September alone, in the top 10pc most affluent areas, the number of new lets was up 20pc year-on-year.
In the bottom 10pc, new lets dropped by 6.3pc across the same period, and means that landlords in these areas face costly void periods.
Aneisha Beveridge, of Hamptons, said tenants in the least affluent areas are more likely to have been hit by the recession and are therefore struggling to prove their income and move house.
Nearly two-thirds (64pc) of landlords face a negative impact to their rental businesses because of the pandemic, according to a survey by the National Residential Landlords Association, a trade body.
Nearly a third (30pc) said that they plan to sell at least one property.
Many property investors are struggling after being hit by lost income during lockdown and fear their tenants will be unable to pay their arrears. Others want to take advantage of the property “mini-boom” and sell while the market is boosted by the stamp duty holiday.
Apart from London and Wales, rents rose in every other region in England and Scotland. Rents in the South East and East of England returned to growth for the first time after three consecutive months of falls. Rents climbed in September by 1.3pc and 1.7pc respectively.
The South West recorded the strongest growth in September at a rate of 4.2pc, followed by the North at 4.1pc.