Major property firm LSL this morning called for the Treasury to lay off private landlords and instead look for solutions to the housing crisis.

It did so while reporting that average rents dipped just below the £800 mark across England and Wales in November.

Reeds Rains and Your Move said that average rents now stand at £799 per month, down 1.2% on a monthly basis and down from September’s all-time record high of £816.

Despite the falls, rents have risen 4% year on year and more rises are predicted in the early spring.

Adrian Gill, director of the two LSL firms, said: “Landlords have become fashionable targets for the Government and Bank of England.

“This is overdue attention for the sector that provides homes for more than one in five Britons.

“But negative campaigns and unconstructive policies – designed to attack landlords rather than support tenants – will not make rents lower or provide more homes.

“The effect will be quite the opposite, forcing rents upwards.”

Two and a half years ago, LSL – parent company of Your Move and Reeds Rains – forecast that rents would break through £800 in mid-2015.

The prediction was bang on, with rents cracking through that level in July.

LSL also said this morning that yields for landlords have fallen, while tenants’ finances have worsened, leading to more arrears.

Gill said: “For new entrants, or landlords looking to invest in additional properties to let, market conditions could be a little harder to navigate than six months ago.

“Choosing the right property in the right area is even more important when looking for the best rental yield on new investments.

“Partly this is down to enormous competition in the property purchase market – homes are being sold rapidly, whether to landlords or owner occupiers.

“It is a property seller’s market.

“Similarly as yields continue to feel the pressure of rising prices, other factors will need to adjust in turn. That means higher rents.

“Most likely this will push rents higher still – and indicates an earlier spring for rent rises in 2016.

“Combined with the latest attacks on landlords from the Government, this could propel demand even higher for every single home that landlords do have to offer.

“A continued shortage of properties to let is the challenge to overcome – and the Government needs to think pragmatically about this conundrum rather than looking for political targets.”