A wind of change has whistled through the lettings market. Not long ago tenants were spoilt for choice when they were looking for properties to rent. Not any more.

Last week one of the leading letting agents in Marlow said there was a dire shortage of town centre properties in the £900-£1,800 bracket.

"We just haven't got enough mid-market properties," complained Laraine Davies, manager of the Chapel Street office of Thames & Chilterns. "We have relocation agents looking for houses in central Marlow for people moving into the area and we have nothing to offer them.

"A lot more corporate movers from abroad are looking for furnished properties," said the agent. "They've let their house furnished in their home country and now they want a furnished house here. At one time company relocaters had bigger budgets. They would take an unfurnished place and hire furniture but companies aren't as generous now. Job movers from overseas are much more likely to want to rent a house fully furnished they certainly don't want to go to the bother and expense of furnishing it themselves."

The Marlow agent believes the shortage of mid-market properties is partly due to landlords who have pulled out of the market because of poor rental returns when the lettings sector was suffering from over supply.

Jacqui Smith who manages the Beaconsfield office of Hamptons International agrees that demand has increased over the summer, particularly the number of applicants who want to rent before buying. She believes her department is in for a busy autumn.

"With the train line now open after the tunnel collapsed in Gerrards Cross, we are again starting to see those people looking to commute into London who want to be able to walk to the station," she said, adding: "There's demand for properties across the county and in all price ranges, although Amersham is particularly popular. After a busy August and September, stocks have started to dwindle so we are in need of centrally located properties to boost the supply."

Jenkins Newman director Jon Adnitt at the agency's lettings department in Wycombe knows all about the trend to rent before buying because he's doing it himself. "My wife and I are renting a house in Watlington while we wait for the right property to come up," he revealed on Tuesday. "We're looking across a fairly broad area. We're prepared to wait until after Christmas if necessary. Being a cash buyer can pay off at the moment. It's not unusual to be able to negotiate a five per cent discount on the asking price, but you may get as much as ten per cent."

Claire Parker who runs the lettings department for Thames Valley agent Davis Tate says business is up 73 per cent on this time last year.

"We believe there are several reasons for the increasing popularity of trying before you buy," she said. "Job mobility, job insecurity and short-term contracts mean many are wary about becoming locked-in to owning a property.

"Couples who live together are often reluctant to commit to a large mortgage which could be difficult to unravel if there's a split," reported the agent. "Add to that the higher divorce rates, the ageing population, the demise of MIRAS (Mortgage Interest Relief at Source) and youngsters being priced out of the market in expensive areas, and it's not surprising that renting has become more sociably acceptable."

Jonathan Crellin at Philip Green's residential letting department in Wycombe has no doubt that the UK is following the European approach to renting. "We're seeing many more Europeans who are working in London and looking to rent in Bucks," he reported. "The new working directives have brought an influx of tradespeople from the continent the only problem with them is the difficulty of getting reliable references."

Philip Green's letting expert also attributes the heightened market demand to the number of executives living in the country who are being moved by their companies to London. "I call them the internet brigade. They don't want to get rid of their great big rectory in Shrewsbury or Lincolnshire so they say, yes I'll move to the London office for a couple of years but you'll have to pay for it.' "They want the company to find them a rented house and pick up the bill."

According to Crellin, the going rate for a two bedroom flat in the Wycombe area is £700-£750 a month, a three bedroom semi will cost £800-£875, a four bedroom, two bathroom estate house will set you back betweeen £1,100-£1,500 and a substantial four/five bedroom house with two or three bathrooms could cost anything from £1,500 to £2,500.