29% of landlords said that their rental income increased during the second quarter of this year, according to research by Paragon Mortgages.

The buy-to-let lender’s quarterly research showed that 13% of landlords surveyed have increased rental rates across their portfolios by between 2% and 4%, with 4% saying they had increased rental income up to 6%.

Of those surveyed, 8% said that their rental income had risen by 2%, with 4% saying it had increased by more than 6%.

19% of smaller scale landlords reported rising rental income during the quarter, but 75% said rents remained unchanged.

However, 32% of professional landlords claimed their rental income had increased in the first quarter and only 2% said that it had decreased in Q2.

Nigel Terrington , Paragon Group’s chief executive, said: “Results from our latest research shows that rental income has increased steadily during the second quarter. Landlords are continuing to experience high levels of demand for their properties so have been able to make small increases to rent levels