Three newly-elected Labour MPs have shot into the list of the top five landlords in the House of Commons.

The Financial Times has analysed the new members’ register of interests and discovered that Jas Athwal – former leader of Redbridge council and now Labour MP for Ilford South – lets out 15 residential and three commercial properties, all co-owned with a family member. 

His collection of rental properties beats shadow chancellor Jeremy Hunt, a multi-millionaire entrepreneur who owns nine rental properties according to the register.

The third and fifth largest landlords in the Commons are also new Labour members – Gurinder Josan, MP for Smethwick in the West Midlands, who owns eight rental properties alongside members of his family, and Southend East MP Bayo Alaba, who owns seven, also with family members. 

MPs must declare if they have a rental property that generates more than £10,000 a year in annual income. There are 85 MPs who declare themselves as landlords under this definition — representing 13% of parliamentarians — and they own 184 rental properties between them.  

The FT’s analysis shows that Labour has 44 such landlords, equating to 11% of its 404 MPs, while the Tory party has 28 — a quarter of its 121 MPs. The Liberal Democrats have eight among their 72 MPs.

Tom Darling, director of the Renters’ Reform Coalition activist group, was interviewed by the FT and is quoted as saying: “We must not have a repeat of the situation that occurred with previous rental reform efforts, where there was a suggestion that parliamentarians’ private interests were contributing to slow-walking and watering down vital renting legislation. 

“Whilst we clearly don’t believe being a landlord should preclude you from being an MP, we do think these MPs have an extra duty — to their tenants as well as their constituents — to support and bring forward long overdue renting reforms without delay.” 

A government spokesperson quoted by the FT says the Starmer administration “will take the tough decisions that the last Tory government refused to, and we’ll give renters stability and security. Our plans will ban no-fault evictions, end rental bidding wars, and better protect renters against damp, mould and cold.”