The two most aggressively pro-tenant activist bodies have accused landlords without mortgages of “cashing in.”

According to a poll of more than 1,000 landlords commissioned by Shelter and publicised in The Guardian – but apparently not sent to the rest of the mainstream media – seven out of 10 landlords who own rental units outright claimed to have increased rents on new or extended tenancies in the past 12 months.

Ben Twomey, the chief executive of the campaign group Generation Rent, tells the newspaper that debt-free landlords are “cashing in simply because they can”. 

He warns that without government intervention – he does not explain what kind – “the cost of renting crisis will continue to uproot families and fuel homelessness”.

The Guardian does not name any agency or landlord but says: “When Shelter’s pollsters asked landlords why they were increasing rents despite not having increased mortgage costs, many said they had been advised to do so by letting agents and others who said ‘it’s the way the market is going’.”

The chief executive of Shelter, Polly Neate, told the paper that rent increases by debt-free landlords showed they and letting agents were “cashing in on the housing emergency because they know people are in desperate situations”.

She said: “Every day we hear from private renters who are facing the very real possibility of losing the roof from over their heads after their landlord hiked their rent. Others are being pitted against each other and being forced to pay eye-watering sums to find a new home after being served an eviction notice.”

Here’s The Guardian story in full.