Every day it seems we are subjected to more and more misleading headlines about the future of the buy-to-let (BTL) market. According to some newspapers, and I'm not talking about the tabloids, its about to collapse, or it's in crisis and yet according to others its going to be business as usual. The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is the latest organisation to throw their hat into the ring and according to them it's all doom and gloom as landlords are abandoning the property market at the fastest rate for almost three years. The proportion of landlords opting to sell properties when tenants move out, their research says, has risen from 6.1pc to 6.5pc in the past quarter. Higher house prices and falling rental yields are making it difficult for landlords to make a profit.

RICS also warns that there could be an even bigger exodus from the sector next April, when new, lower capital gains tax rates for property investors kick in.

RICS spokesman Jeremy Leaf said: "A combination of the tightening lending criteria and successive interest rate rises has started to hit the buy-to-let market but with the drop in capital gains tax due in April next year, many landlords will resist selling until the spring."

But then it seems to shoot itself in the foot as it tell us that rents are actually not falling at all. They are continuing to rise albeit at a slower rate than it carried out the last survey three months ago.

When we read another report from the National Landlords Association (NLA) surprise surprise we get a different forecast. Landlords are very optimistic about the BTL market in 2008 with nearly 25% of them looking to increase their property portfolios over the next five years. David Salusbury, chairman of the NLA said that "as the population grows and the number of households in this country continue to expand, the private rented sector will play a key role in providing homes to a larger number of people who need either a temporary or a longer term housing solution. That includes people who move jobs, those who have arrived in this country from abroad, families who are on benefit and some of the most vulnerable sections of the community."

Yet another source, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) believes that the BTL sector will remain vibrant so long as investors take the long term view. With a shortgage of housing stock, rising immigration, an increasing student population and interest rates forecast to be at 5% by the end of next year, it believes that BTLs will remain an attractive proposition.

What do I think? I think in a country with a chronic shortage of housing, with falling interest rates, property investment and buy to let still look a good bet, but as the CML believe it's a long term one and not for the faint-hearted.