An activist group has sharply criticised a housing minister for having “bent to the greed of landlords.”

Scottish Housing Secretary Mairi McAllan is exempting mid-market rent (MMR) and Build To Rent (BTR) properties from rent controls in the Housing (Scotland) Bill.

The legislation would allow councils to designate rent control areas, capping cost increases at inflation plus 1%.

McAllan has said that without such exemptions she feared caps could stifle necessary housebuilding in Scotland.

But an open letter released by tenants union activist group Living Rent – sent in the name of chairwoman Ruth Gilbert – says: “As you very well know, exempting MMR and BTR housing will create a two-tier system of rent controls that’s both unworkable and leaves thousands of tenants across Scotland with no recourse to challenge unfair rent hikes.

“Build To Rent homes are some of the most extortionate private sector rents across our cities.

“A continued reliance on this kind of housing will drive people from their communities and permanently alter the fabric of our cities.

“Gifting international hedge-funds exemptions from policy designed to control their profits – at the expense of our communities – is not a legacy of which any housing minister should wish to leave.

“Instead, your legacy will be turning our cities into playparks for investors, with Glasgow centre becoming a soulless field of housing that exploits tenants.”