According to the latest research from a trade body, landlords are voicing major concerns over the reduction of UK's rentable homes as many BTL investors are jumping ship, even though demand continues to rise.

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2,700 landlords took part in the survey and virtually a quarter reported there was an increase in demand from would be tenants in the last three months whereas 41% had not experienced any change; 15% claimed that they had seen a fall in demand.

It has been widely reported that landlords are leaving the market and the research states that 31% of landlords will be selling one or more properties in the next year and only 13% claiming that they will be investing in at least one new property.

Other organisations back up the trade body's statistics as Rightmove claims that because of the present supply and demand situation, it has seen rents shooting upwards across most of Britain. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors is predicting that over the next five years there will be a major acceleration in rent increases as demand will outstrip supply.

The government is well renowned for its blatant attack on the BTL investors with its unrelenting series of measures designed to 'encourage' more housing stock to be made available to owner occupiers.

The trade body states that the government's programme has been a dismal failure and is demanding it should now try to redress the crisis by first of all scrapping the stamp duty levy for landlords when purchasing additional properties.

A spokesperson for the trade body said: "Those who argue that a smaller private rented sector is good for tenants wanting to buy a home are plain wrong. The Government’s policies are choking off the supply of homes to rent whilst demand remains strong.

"This is only making life more difficult and potentially more expensive for those looking for somewhere to live. Without an urgent change of course and the introduction of pro-growth policies the situation will only become worse."