Labour’s homelessness minister is facing calls to resign after a row erupted over her rental property. Rushanara Ali hiked the rent on her east London townhouse by £700 a month just weeks after the previous tenants were removed, according to The i Paper.

A source close to Ms Ali said the house was put up for sale and only re-listed for rent after she did not find a buyer. But she is facing criticism as the Government seeks to clamp down on what it sees as unfair rental practices.

Shadow housing secretary James Cleverly said Ms Ali should consider her position as a minister, adding that the allegations were “an example of the most extreme hypocrisy”.

Tory chairman Kevin Hollinrake also accused the homelessness minister of “staggering hypocrisy”.

He said: “Rushanara Ali has been somebody who’s obviously a Government minister in charge of homelessness.

“She’s spoken out about exploiting tenants, about providing more protections to tenants.

“You can’t say those things, then do the opposite in practice, as a landlord. She’s got to resign.”

He said the conduct appeared to be “unethical, not illegal” but “we can’t just say one thing and do another”, adding that her handling of the situation seemed “extremely unfair”.

The Renters’ Rights Bill includes measures to ban landlords who end a tenancy to sell a property from re-listing it for six months.

Ms Ali has previously spoken out against “private renters being exploited” and said the Labour would “empower people to challenge unreasonable rent increases”.

Tom Darling, director at the Renters’ Reform Coalition, said: “It’s mind-boggling that we have a homelessness minister who has just evicted four people in order to rake in more rent – something that will soon be illegal under the Renters’ Rights Bill her own department is bringing through Parliament.

“The Government are currently considering an amendment to the legislation from the House of Lords which reduces the ban on re-letting after eviction from 12 months to six months.

“The Government must remove this amendment, and at the very least minister Ali must recuse herself from any discussions on this within Government.”

A spokesperson for Ms Ali said: “Rushanara takes her responsibilities seriously and complied with all relevant legal requirements.”