The manager of one letting agency chain has responded to recent reports that agencies have been asking prospective tenants to submit sealed bids for rental properties.

Belvoir Managing Director, Dorian Gonsalves, says that this activity could be occurring as a result of agencies failing to value properties properly in the first place.

He explained that letting agents who invite sealed bids are likely to have undervalued properties.

"Sealed bids is not something that Belvoir agents have been asked to oversee, probably because Belvoir is a specialist agency that provides a comprehensive appraisal for landlords prior to marketing and then advises on an achievable rental valuation,” Gonsalves stated.

Lettings agents were claiming that the sealed bidding was necessary when properties were in high demand by several different hopeful tenants. This was the result of the shortage of rental properties available and the growing demand. Now, Gonsalves is calling for government intervention to help the private rental sector to boost the number of buy-to-let mortgages available.

He said, "Belvoir is issuing a rallying call to mortgage lenders to put more funding behind buy-to-let (BTL) because demand is incredibly high."

Anyone who is hoping to take advantage of this current high demand for rental property should ensure they take out full landlord insurance before renting their property out.