More than a quarter of Tory MPs are private landlords – and have no interest in helping first-time buyers.

The allegation has been made by PricedOut, a campaign for affordable house prices, which is also calling for all letting agent fees to be declared unlawful.

The campaign says that out of 305 Tory MPs, 83 are landlords. This compares with 12.5% of Labour MPs and 15% of Lib Dems. It said the numbers were ‘totally unrepresentative of the public at large’.

On Twitter, it picks out James Clappison, Tory MP for Hertsmere. It claims he owns 26 houses in East Yorkshire.

Katy John, a spokeswoman for PricedOut, said: “Not only do MPs enjoy their taxpayer-funded second homes, many of them also have a portfolio of rented houses too.

“First-time buyers desperately need house prices to fall to more affordable levels, but landlord MPs at the very top of the property ladder have a vested interest to not let this happen.”

PricedOut is calling for tougher tax treatment for buy-to-let landlords and wants an end to the tax breaks by which private landlords can offset the cost of interest on the mortgage used to buy a rental property against the monthly rent.

PricedOut is also calling for all letting agent fees to be declared unlawful, saying that agents should only be able to charge for rent and refundable deposits.

The campaign wants the whole of the rest of the UK to follow Scotland’s lead.

It is telling tenants to say no to admin fees, reference and credit check fees and inventory fees. It has set up an e-petition on the HM Government website on which it says: “Letting agents should earn their income from landlords. Sign the petition to prevent the future exploitation of millions.”