A leading buy to let finance specialist says ending tax breaks would make buying rental property less profitable for landlords.
Sean McCann, personal finance specialist at NFU Mutual, says the government may scrap the tax benefits for landlords under the cloak of helping first time buyers - investors and BTLs tend to want the same smaller properties.
At the moment, mortgage interest payments on rental properties can be deducted from income along with other management expenses such as repairs, insurance and certain travel expenses, to help reduce any income tax that may be due.
A report by ginger-group the InterGenerational Foundation - hotly contested within the PRS - says the government could gain up to £5 billion a year in tax by ending the breaks.
Meanwhile the British Property Federation is calling on the government to slash the bureaucracy which deters large-scale investors in private rented development. It claims that if Britain wants to develop a vibrant market in multi-family residential property such as Germany and the US it should ease restrictions and improve tax incentives.
Finally ARLA has repeated its call for the government to introduce the mandatory regulation of agents to inject a much needed stamp of professionalism and quality and thus to make the sector more appealing to large scale investors.
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