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Research by buy-to-let lender The Mortgage Works, revealed landlords who waited to sell halved the amount they had to pay in tax, compared to those who sold prior to the April budget reforms when a flat rate of 18 per cent CGT introduced.

Based on a £200,000 property, landlords who sold houses or flats in Q1 faced high CGT charges (£30,597 for a house and £30,241 on a flat).

Combined with cumulative income tax over a five year period (which equates to £4,298 for a house and £4,362 for a flat) this would have created a total tax burden of £34,895 on a house and £34,603 on a flat.

By comparison, landlords who sold in Q2 after the CGT reforms saw their tax burden fall by almost half to £16,581 for houses and just over a half to £15,975 for flats.

This is based on landlords achieving cumulative property price appreciation of 43 per cent on houses and 42 per cent on flats in the five years to the first quarter of 2008.

Andy McQueen, managing director of The Mortgage Works, said: "Although the buy-to-let market has, like all sectors, been impacted by the credit crunch, landlords have continued to buy and sell properties on a regular basis.

"This has resulted in buy-to-let forming a higher proportion of net lending than previously seen in the mortgage market."