21% of landlords believe tenants who want more space will look to move to the country because they are able to work from home, according to research for The Mortgage Lender.

Its research, carried out by OnePoll in July, also found 35% of landlords had changed their view on the type of tenants they would find attractive in the future because of the pandemic.

The Mortgage Lender says there is already evidence of this shift according to the latest Rental Market Report from Zoopla, which identified a two-speed rental market emerging between London and the rest of the country with a supply/demand imbalance supporting positive rental growth across all regions and major cities outside London.

It predicts rental inflation outside London will finish the year 1% up on last year while in London rents are expected to fall by 5%.

Steve Griffiths, The Mortgage Lender’s sales director, said: “No one really knows what the long-term impact of Covid-19 will be on where people choose to live in the future – but we do know that a lot of larger employers with flagship offices in London have already taken the decision their workforce will remain working from home for the rest of this year.

“Despite the uncertainty we do know that we’re not building nearly enough new homes in the UK to meet demand and that good quality rental properties will continue to be desirable.”