New research has exposed the scale of the fall in buy-to-let purchases in the year that the Government hiked stamp duty by 3pc on such transactions.

The number of properties sold to buy-to-let investors has fallen 63.7pc in the year to November in England and Wales, according to the estate agency Haart, dropping 8.2pc last month alone. In London, the number of such properties sold fell by 40pc.

It also reported that the number of landlords registering to buy properties is down 59.2pc annually.

There was a big surge of transactions in March, before the stamp duty came in, followed by a sharp decline.