Over the past year, three quarters – 76% – of private landlords said they have raised the rent with the main reason, cited by half of them – 51% – being to cover higher mortgage costs.

A quarter of landlords surveyed by Landbay – 24% – said they raised rents on the advice of their letting agent.

Other reasons for rent hikes were to cover maintenance and repairs, an increase in taxation or energy bills, while some landlords always raise rents once a year.

The most likely rent increase, according to 38% of respondents, is between 6% and 10%, while 27% said they would only increase the rent by up to 5% maximum.

Almost two out of 10 buy-to-let landlords (18%) said they would not raise rents for their tenants if their own mortgage rate increases when they come to remortgage.

Two out of 10 landlords (21%) were unsure what to do and 61% said they would raise the rent, according to the research.

For those landlords who are not raising rents at the moment, they do not need to as their rental income covers their mortgage and other outgoings. However, some said they are out of pocket but have taken the hit because they do not want to lose good tenants. Meanwhile, others are delaying the rental increase for as long as they can.

Paul Brett, managing director, intermediaries at Landbay, said: “Many landlords, whose mortgage interest rates are increasing, find themselves in the position of having no alternative than to put the rent up in order to cover their outgoings.”

“Mortgage costs obviously play a big part in landlords’ expenditure and there is a lot of remortgage activity this year.”