Rent in London has fallen for the first time in six years, new research has revealed.

Property services group Countrywide said the average rent in the capital were almost £7 – or 0.5 per cent – cheaper in July than it was 12 months ago.

The last time London rent fell over a 12 month period was in November 2010, when the average cost was £923 per month.

Since then average rent has ballooned to £1,282, Countrywide said.

The group also said rent across Great Britain rose 1.5 per cent, the slowest rate of overall growth since 2012.

Johnny Morris, director of research at Countrywide said Brexit had contributed to slowed growth, as uncertainty had led more sellers to turn to the rental market, depressing prices.

Mr Morris said: “Uncertainty in the sales market in the run up to, and after the EU Referendum has caused more discretionary sellers to turn to the rental market.

“The large rise in numbers of homes available to rent has certainly slowed rental growth, even with tenant numbers increasing.

“Stock levels were already running higher than usual due to investors bringing forward purchases in the rush to beat the stamp duty deadline in April.

“While rental price growth has slowed, current market dynamics are likely to accelerate the growth of renting.

“It seems that with more stock and demand from tenants we will see the number of households renting increase in 2016.”