"The number of homeowners who sold their homes increased by nearly13% over four months."

Nathan Emerson, chief executive of Propertymark, the association of estate agents, said that the private rental property sector is invisibly under pressure. He added that if the sector does not work for landlords, "they will simply sell their properties, which means having one less home for tenants".

According to Sky News, the number of landlords selling their properties has risen by almost 13% in four months. Statistics provided to us by Propertymark, the association of estate agents, show an increase from July to October.

Why should we care about what happens to landlords?

In basic terms, if the mass exodus of landlords continues, we could have a housing crisis. This is primarily because we, as a country, have become overly dependent on the private rental sector. "Generation Renters" is no longer limited to the typical "twenty-something" professional. It now includes an increasing number of older generations, including pensioners, as well as a growing number of 'social' renters. According to government figures, over 25% of households renting in the private sector receive housing benefit. Simply put, this is because we don't have enough social housing. As a result, we see similar 'groups' of people vying for the same space in the rental sector.

The lack of affordable housing simultaneously puts pressure from the other side. Despite falling real estate prices on the market, many households seeking to become owners cannot save enough money. Rents are rising, which puts additional financial pressure on people to move. Along with this comes rising energy bills, cost of living and general inflation in the housing market.

Yoana Miteva, a British citizen who moved from Bulgaria to England twelve years ago, describes it as "mission impossible". She works full time, even taking on a second job to save money. Rising rents have put her under financial pressure to move, in addition to energy bills, cost of living and general inflation in the housing market.

With more and more landlords leaving, rents are rising as demand outstrips supply. The main reasons landlords are selling properties are due to rising mortgage interest rates and government legislation. Nathan Emerson, chief executive of Propertymark, describes the private rental sector as having been "invisibly under pressure" for a long time. He says that if the sector is not working for the landlord, "they will simply sell their property and tenants will have one less home to rent".

Landlords themselves are asking the government to step in and change the rules to help create 'viable' businesses. Sean Gillespie, a landlord in Hull, says his colleagues are "abandoning ship" because their rented accommodation is becoming financially "unsustainable". He asks: "How do landlords survive? They survive by raising rents." Government regulations are blamed for the increase in tax rates. In particular, "Article 24" does not allow business expenses to be taken into account. Mr. Gillespie says this is "absolutely crippling" the sector. "We can't change interest rates at the moment," he adds, "but we can remove Article 24, which increased taxation from 2015.... if landlords aren't making money, they can't run a business, provide housing, renovate homes."

Landlords tend to be unpopular and often reviled, but we need landlords. If there are fewer and fewer of them, the question remains: where will people without enough social or affordable housing live?