Even the most bullish of estate agents (and let's face it, we estate agents tend to be the bullish type) would have said that the third quarter of last year was rolling in clover. up. The lack of stock for sale and the over-abundance of stock for lettings meant that it was hard for motivated buyers to purchase more stock, and hard to get tenants for properties already owned.  The beginning of the new year has seen properties filtering on to the market with vendors realising that they can in fact get the price they want, and a healthy increase in applicants looking to rent. It may be that these phenomena are not un-related. If landlords sell their properties , then their tenants have to move somewhere. In a time of 25% deposits they are less likely to become first time buyers and will be wanting somewhere to let. With more properties tied up in sales and less supply available for rent, this can only be good news for landlords to get far more decent rents this Spring than last.