Private landlords are taking advantage of London's housing shortage to charge taxpayers of billions of pounds for sub-standard homes, an MP has claimed.

Councils with long housing waiting lists are forced to place tenants in private accommodation - and to pay "astronomical" rents, said MP Jeremy Corbyn (Lab Islington North).

But he said he was "shocked and appalled" by the low quality of the homes offered by some landlords.

The MP called for rent controls, to set a legal maximum for the amount landlords are allowed to charge.

He was speaking in the House of Commons as MPs from all parties warned that London faced a housing crisis.

Mr Corbyn said: "In my constituency, as in most in London, the fastest growing sector is the private rented sector.

"My local authority, like many others, now routinely nominates people to the private rented sector because there are no council or housing association places for those in desperate housing need.

"The rent deposit is paid by the local authority, and housing benefit pays for the rent; and the rent levels are astronomical.

"I could give many examples of flats in the same council block where, for example, one is council-owned and is paid for by housing benefit of £100 a week and the other has been bought under the right to buy and then rented out on the private market at £300 a week, which is also paid for by housing benefit.

"The amount of public money we are pouring into the pockets of private landlords is ludicrous; the total is several billions per year in London."

The total housing benefit bill in London is £4 billion, he said.

"In the short term, there is not a lot we can do about that, as the private rented sector is providing housing for people, but rent controls in the private sector would prevent profiteering.

"Above all, we should provide far more places built to a decent standard, because I am shocked and appalled by the conditions of the private rented accommodation in which many people are placed at present."

Sarah Teather, the MP for Brent East and Liberal Democrat Local Government spokesperson, said one in ten households in London was currently on a waiting list.

She said: "Housing is a powder-keg issue. It ignites rows about race and immigration, and it provokes people to lose faith in the system.

"It is the very issue that fascist parties rely on to breed resentment and hate."

She called on the Government to invest more in building housing for rent.

Local Government Minister Ian Austin said more new homes were built in 2007-8 than at any time in the past 30 years.

The Government had spent £29 billion since 1997 to bring more than one million social rented homes up to scratch, he added.

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