A high profile market commentator is warning that tenants will ultimately pay the price for new rental taxes proposed by the government.

Jonathan Rolande says actual and proposed changes to the private rental sector – the Renters Reform Bill, the 5% stamp duty surcharge, higher mortgage costs and bow possible National Insurance contributions – constitute “the death of an entire sector, by a thousand cuts.”

Rolande – writing on our sister publication, Estate Agent Today – says the harsh reality is that since 2016, landlords have sold 294,000 more homes than they’ve bought. And last year alone nearly 140,000 properties were sold by landlords.

He writes: “Meanwhile, new landlord purchases have gone from a flood to a trickle. We’ve all seen it. Ten years ago, investors were behind 16% of all home sales. Today? Just 10%, the lowest since records began.”

He suggests that the trend will accelerate if further taxes are imposed with areas with what he calls “paper-thin yields and heavy regulation” – many in London and the south east – being worst affected.

And he warns that already-high rents will rise still further as supply contracts yet again, as landlords quit for what he describes as “better return, less hassle.”

And he concludes: “When the dust settles, it’s renters who’ll feel it most as landlords take the hint and simply quit or jack up rents. The Chancellor may get some money, but I guarantee, it’ll be tenants who pay the price.”

You can see the full opinion piece by Rolande here.