Two thirds of landlords have suffered financially during the pandemic and four out of 10 fear their investments will be impacted by the recession.

On top of that, a mortgage expert is predicting a fundamental change across the entire buy to let landscape thanks to Coronavirus.

The research, conducted for The Mortgage Lender by OnePoll among a panel of landlords, found that of those investors who have already suffered financially, 28 per cent reported rent arrears and 18 per cent had tenants who left their rented home.

Some 31 per cent fear an increase in taxation will impact on their portfolios over the next two years while 21 per cent believe population movement from cities to areas that have outside space and space to work from home could adversely affect their inner city properties.

Landlords in the survey also predict a fall in student numbers from home and abroad affecting buy to let properties in student areas that have historically offered superior returns in comparison to more expensive properties in the South.

The Mortgage Lender sales director Steve Griffiths says: “There is some evidence that the pandemic could change the structure of the buy to let market in a more fundamental way than any of us could have anticipated at the beginning of this year.

“With the City of London currently deserted and many larger employers considering work from home policies as a more permanent solution there could well be a longer-term change in the types of properties tenants will find attractive.

“Despite the uncertainty landlords understand that property investment is a long term strategy – indeed half of the ones we surveyed said the pandemic hadn’t changed their investment plans at all and that is borne out by the number of applications we have seen for our buy to let products over the last four months.”