The national housing charity Threshold has said it prevented almost 2,000 adults and children from entering homelessness in the last quarter of 2021.
The charity said the figure represented a 16% increase on the same time the previous year.
During October, November and December, Threshold said it stopped 905 households around the country from entering homelessness, which included 1,250 adults and 735 children.
It said its advisers challenged invalid notices of termination, invalid rent increases and assisted clients to resolve rent arrears.
Just over 1,800 other households were at risk of homelessness during the last quarter of the year, which was an increase of 14% on the same time in 2020.
Threshold also responded to more than 11,000 calls to its helpline with queries from almost 1,800 renters on security of tenure.
Amid a high number of termination notices for the purpose of sale - the organisation's chief executive John-Mark McCafferty has called for immediate action including through the taxation system in order to retain small-scale landlords in the private rental sector.
"Threshold believes the taxation system has a role to play in retaining small-scale landlords in the private rental sector to protect the current private rental stock.
"We can see from reports in the last few weeks and months, that landlords continue to leave the market and that looks likely to continue in 2022 - unless action is taken to address this," he said.
The charity also said that the number of private renters seeking assistance with poor standards or outstanding repairs in the home has risen to beyond pre-pandemic levels, adding that this may be driven by delays in repairs being made during the most severe public health restrictions.
Separately, the latest 'Locked Out' report by the Simon Community shows that while the number of properties on the rental market has increased, there has been a fall in availability on the HAP scheme.
Of 1,349 properties available to rent in December across 16 areas including major cities, just 148 or 11% fell into Housing Assistance Payment categories.
