Landlords are overwhelmingly planning to vote Conservative because the party has said it will not try to control rents or introduce new tenant protections, according to a new survey.

Most landlords – 51% – say David Cameron’s party best represents their interests, while a huge 45% say they will vote Conservative in May, the agency which carried out the poll said.

Only 19% of landlords who took part in the survey said they would vote Labour –under half as many as say they would vote Tory.

The agency which carried out the survey said that landlords favour the Conservatives because they do not want to regulate the sector, control rents, or force owners to offer tenants more secure terms, according to the agency which carried out the survey.

“Conservatives take a liberal approach to the rental market, opting not to interfere with rent prices and tenancy lengths. This is good news for landlords should the Tories remain in government,” the group, Rentify, said in its analysis of the figures.

The gap represents a strong bias towards the Conservatives: amongst the general population Labour and the Tories are neck and neck in the polls.

The agency said pledges by Labour to soften future rent increases and introduce basic protections for tenants had “had an impact on the party’s popularity with landlords”.

The most - and least - affordable UK cities for renting Show all 9 1 /9 The most - and least - affordable UK cities for renting The most - and least - affordable UK cities for renting The five best 5. Glasgow, 35% of incomes spent on rent Creative Commons The most - and least - affordable UK cities for renting The five best 4. Norwich, 35% Creative Commons The most - and least - affordable UK cities for renting The five best 2. Cardiff, 29% Creative Commons The most - and least - affordable UK cities for renting The five best 1. Plymouth, 27% Creaitve Commons The most - and least - affordable UK cities for renting The five worst 5. Bristol, 43% Creaitve Commons The most - and least - affordable UK cities for renting The five worst 4. Cambridge, 43% Creative Commons The most - and least - affordable UK cities for renting The five worst 3. Birmingham, 47% Creative Commons The most - and least - affordable UK cities for renting The five worst 2. Edinburgh, 47% Creative Commons The most - and least - affordable UK cities for renting The five worst 1. London, 49% Creative Commons

The Opposition says it will limit the speed of rent increases but has not pledged to cap rents. It will also scrap letting agent fees for tenants and mandate three-year tenancy agreements by default.

Landlord groups reacted with delight earlier this month after the Government further watered down regulations on private housing.

Conservative housing minister Brandon Lewis said at the time that he wanted more people to rent their homes from landlords, creating a “bigger, better private rented sector”.

The poll found that 45% of landlords were planning to vote Conservative, 19% Labour, 17% Ukip, 6% Liberal Democrat and 6% Green.