A quarter of buy-to-let investors say they will sell their rental properties as a result of the Government's draconian tax changes - a move which commentators say could destabilise the property market and cause rents to surge.
A survey of almost 1,000 experienced private landlords found that 25pc have already sold, or are planning to sell, following the Government's plans to remove their ability to deduct their mortgage interest costs from their rental income before calculating their tax bill.
This dramatic change was announced in the August 2015 budget and will start to take effect from next year.
Hardest-hit will be those property investors paying higher rates of tax (40pc or 45pc) and who have large mortgages.
Instead of being able to deduct mortgage costs, landlords will have a 20pc tax credit, which will leave many higher-rate taxpayers with squeezed profits and some falling into a loss after the change begins to be phased in in April.
Lower-rate taxpayers may be pushed up a tax band, losing many of the associated benefits.
Landlords in buy-to-let companies are not affected, prompting many to consider incorporating.
The study, by the Residential Landlords' Association, follows a previous survey which found that 56pc of landlords will increase rents to cope with the tax changes.
Experts have warned that tenants will bear the brunt of the tax changes, and are likely to see their rents increase. Some will lose their homes as their landlords sell.
In June a report by building society Kent Reliance found that 40pc of landlords planned to increase rents, by an average of 5.6pc.
The full force of the tax will not be felt until 2020. It will be phased in from next year, when landlords will be able to offset 75pc of their tax bill.
After this they will lose another quarter of their allowance each year until 2020, when they will have no ability to offset their costs against their income at all.
David Smith, policy director at the RLA, said: “The RLA’s findings are a worrying sign of the potential trouble ahead for tenants as a result of the previous Chancellor’s tax rises.
"Any reduction in supply is going to make it more difficult for them to find a place to live and will inevitably drive rents up.
“Ahead of the Autumn Statement we are calling on the new Chancellor to consider the evidence, reverse policy and support growth in the rented sector."
A separate, but equally controversial tax hike which came into force in April this year added three percentage points to the stamp duty bill of anyone buying an additional property. This includes most buy-to-let landlords.
- Tell us how you're affected by the tax changes: olivia.rudgard@telegraph.co.uk