Private tenants in the UK already pay the highest rent in Europe (1). In the last decade, average rents have increased faster than wages (2). Now it has been revealed that Santander Bank, who made £2billion profit last year, have been forcing up rents since 2011.

Buried deep in Santander's buy-to-let mortgage contracts is a hidden term that forces landlords to "get written advice from a qualified valuer” and “take all steps to ensure that [it] leads to the maximum increase in the rent which can reasonably be achieved".

With tenants facing a triple burden of insecurity, poor standards and already extortionate costs, Santander’s lust for profit above all else is making it harder for tenants to afford a home.

We are calling on Santander to scrap the clause in its contracts and enable landlords and tenants free to negotiate costs.

If Santander do not act quickly to remove the clause, it will not only continue to put pressure on hard-pressed renters, it will continue to threaten long-standing relationships between responsible landlords and their tenants.

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1. Office for National Statistics, 2016. 
2. National Housing Federation says that they are the highest in real terms in Europe, and nearly double that of similar European countries.