Seventy-three per cent of all landlord sales in 2022 were landlords retiring from the sector, according to research from Hamptons. Should I be joining them, I ponder? They are likely to be baby boomers who benefitted from the birth of buy to let mortgages in the late 1990s: I joined a little later in 2004. I vividly remember the sunny uplands of landlording when the Blair government had a light touch approach to regulation and allowed the sector to expand as the social sector shrank. If I do sell up, it will probably be later this decade when my cheap five year fixes expire (1.65% remember those?) and I will keep some properties that are close to home and easy to manage.

I’m not alone – the number of landlords thinking of selling some or all of their properties in the next 12 months has reached a peak of 33% according to NRLA research. But 10% of landlords are still buying and I am buoyed by my friend Cristiano who wants to meet me for advice over coffee and tells me he is buying a flat at a knock-down price in Liverpool Street with an almighty 7% yield. He is buying with his ex-partner and they have a big deposit.

I am struck by the shock and pain of the increased mortgage costs. Most of us originally thought we were heading for a manageable bank base rate peak of 3.5%. When you start to calculate mortgage costs at 6% and beyond, the consequences can be existential. I meet a close landlord friend for dinner. She has 26 properties and says section 24 tax regulations and increased mortgage costs are crippling the business. She has got to restructure but is worried about the set up costs and vulnerability to the whims of future tax rulings and changes.

This month my residential mortgage went up by 175% from £1,190 to £3,277. I was lucky. I chose a product just as two year fixes bottomed out in May. It looks like two of my buy to let mortgages will triple in cost in November when 1.25% and 1.99% 2-year fixes come to an end. I’m awash with cashflow forecasts but knowing where rates will be in November is sheer crystal ball gazing. I’ve already booked a 2-year fix at 5.24% for one of them. If rates deteriorate I will rejoice, if a decent tracker comes along I might go for that instead - at the least the lender allows the customer to change their mind in the four months leading up to the switch. I’ve been lucky with my mixed residential commercial loan – I reserved a 3-year fix at 5.95% when the base rate was 4.25%. Now, with the base rate at 5%, it looks cheap for commercial lending and will provide a reduction of £900 per month. Thank goodness, because the variable rate on this mortgage is currently 9.05% - I hope the product switch completes soon.