What effect will lack of supply have on the private rental sector in Clapham & Brixton?

I went for a coffee the other day with a landlord in Clapham and he was interested in my views on the property market. I thought I’d share a bit of our conversation as a lot of you may be thinking about the long term effects price rises have on the market. He asked a valid question: he asked me whether the property prices rising in Clapham is merely due to lack of supply and that estate agents will suffer due to a decrease in the number of transactions (a lot of properties are being bought now as rental investments, and as you know they are medium to long term investments) or whether there is more to it than that. The answer to this is complicated and I am merely one man of course, offering one opinion, which is as follows: There is certainly a reduced supply. But this is London. There is always a lack of supply, I can’t think of a time other than the recession when there was an abundance of property and not enough buyers around. Something on the market, presented and pri