The man dubbed Britain’s most controversial buy-to-let landlord, who claims the country is heading for a “housing disaster”, is increasing rents across his 900 properties and filling them with Eastern European migrants.

Guardian Money on Saturday reported that Fergus Wilson had increased rental charges across his 900 Kent properties by 33%, from £900 a month to £1,200, due to a high demand mainly, he said, from migrants who were willing to pay higher prices than other local residents.

He is now believed to be thinking of increasing charges further across his empire.

Wilson told the newspaper that in a competitive Kent market he can fill his properties “within hours” of previous tenants moving out.

He went on to say: “We have more and more legal immigrants but nowhere to house them. It has passed crisis point in Maidstone.

“We have a housing disaster on our hands. Gobbling up the countryside is hardly the answer, but where do the people go displaced by East Europeans?”

And when the paper asked him why he felt he had to increase rents to such an extent, he blamed the government, and specifically George Osborne’s summer budget.

He said landlords would now have little choice but to increase rents so as not to lose out to the proposed tax changes that will cut the amount of tax that can be offset against mortgage interest.

The full piece is here