Over half of landlords surveyed say they can no longer afford to rent to housing benefit tenants because of cuts to the allowance.

The survey by the National Landlords Association (NLA) showed 53% of landlords believe the local housing allowance (LHA) cuts have made it unaffordable to rent to those on benefits.

47% of landlords believe tenants aged under 35 will be hit hardest by the changes and almost 69% of landlords say they can’t see themselves letting to LHA tenants in 2015.

The LHA cuts have seen maximum rent benefit payments reduced to the 30th percentile of local average market rents, rather than the previous 50th percentile.

The age at which a tenant on benefits qualifies for any more than a single room in a shared house has also been raised from 25 to 35, forcing many more people into shared accommodation.

David Salusbury, NLA chairman, National Landlords Association, said: “It’s concerning that so many landlords appear to be planning to withdraw from the LHA market within just three years