Exclusive: Private rentals have grown £400bn in value – making a mockery of landlords’ demands for tax cuts, say campaigners

Private landlords in England have made enough money from rising house prices in the last three decades to build at least 3m council homes, research suggests.

Owners of private rental properties have seen their assets grow in value by £400bn since 1990, equivalent to the amount needed to build more than 50 times the number of council homes that were actually built in England in that period.