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

However, 61% confirm they would raise the rent, according to research undertaken by Landbay.

Over the past year, three quarters (76%) of 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 (24%) said they raised rents on the advice of their letting agent.

Other reasons 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.

For those landlords who are not raising rents at the moment, they don’t 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 don’t want to lose good tenants. Meanwhile, others are delaying the rental increase for as long as they can.

Landbay, managing director of intermediaries Paul Brett says: “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.”