A survey carried out by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) showed 22 percent more respondents reporting a fall in new landlord instructions in the last three months.
It is the eighth consecutive quarter the number of rental properties has fallen, RICS added.
A dearth of properties means that expectations for rental growth are on the rise, with rents projected to increase by a little short of 2 percent nationally over the next 12 months.
However, RICS said the longer term outlook will see a mammoth 15 percent added to rents by 2023.
The organisation said the alarming figures reflect the shift in the Buy to Let market following Tory tax changes, resulting in smaller scale landlords exiting the sector.
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It said: “The shortfall in supply over the medium term is expected to force a cumulative rise of around +15 percent (based on three month average of responses) by the middle of 2023.”
East Anglia and the South West are expected to see the sharpest growth over the period.
RICS chief economist Simon Rubinsohn added: “The impact of recent and ongoing tax changes is clearly having a material impact on the Buy to Let sector as intended.
“The risk, as we have highlighted previously, is that a reduced pipeline of supply will gradually feed through into higher rents in the absence of either a significant uplift in the Build to Rent programme or government funded social housing.
“At the present time, there is little evidence that either is likely to make up the shortfall.
“This augers ill for those many households for whom owner occupation is either out of reach financially or just not a suitable tenure.”
Meanwhile, RICS described the sales market as “broadly flat”, with a strong market seen in Scotland, Northern Ireland, much of the north of England, the Midlands and Wales.
The RICS Residential Market Survey gathers the views of chartered surveyors across the country.