Veteran Labour left winger Dianne Abbott has accused the government of helping private landlords over tenants.

In an article in the Left Foot Forward online campaigning publication, Abbott chronicles the recent economic issues of rising interest rates and supply shortages of both private rental properties and general affordable housing.

Then she makes a series of claims including, firstly, that “widespread anecdotal evidence of potential renters being charged hundreds of pounds for viewings, even online ones” – although no examples of this are cited by Abbott, who is MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington.

Secondly, she says landlords are “increasing rents at every renewal” and she speaks of “reports of an entire Welsh village being bought up by property developers, with residents facing an immediate sharp rise in rents.”

Abbott then says the government has “taken a series of steps to support landlords and disadvantage tenants” including stopping mortgage interest relief “which drove out large numbers of individual landlords in favour of large property firms” and using the anti social behaviour policies announced this week of “moving the goalposts in favour of unscrupulous landlords” while “delaying the implementation of new energy efficiency rules” for landlords.

She concludes her article by saying: ”This shift in favour of landlords in the middle of a housing crisis is hardly a surprise. A quarter of Tory MPs are landlords and a fifth of all Tory Party donations are made by property companies.”

You can see the full piece here.