We commented in our July issue, immediately after the 'shock' announcements in the Budget from George Osborne, that for many highly leveraged landlords in particular, the changes on mortgage interest relief according to tax expert Carl Bayley could well represent "a nightmare".

Since then there has been a great deal of media coverage and on-line debate, which of course inevitably can lead to some who have a commercial or political agenda to overstate their case. Bearing the above in mind, I talked with some magazine subscribers that I am aware have decent sized rental property portfolios, and who I know personally, to get a balanced view on changes in the marketplace.

The three individuals I spoke with have properties in Bristol, the West Midlands and on the south coast respectively.   

Steve Bolton is a private multi-property HMO landlord based on the south coast in Bournemouth who is also the chairman of Platinum Property Partners (PPP) and I asked him for his views on Osborne's Budget.

"From a tenant's point of view, this may well force some landlords to increase their rents to ensure that they remain in the black and don't go into the red," he replied. "Landlords hit hard by this change may also be driven to reduce general property improvements or maintenance which could worsen the standard of rented accommodation.