Britain’s biggest landlord won’t rent his properties to plumbers, because he claims they rip him off over maintenance and repairs.

Fergus Wilson, who owns a property Empire in Kent, has drawn up new “letting criteria” which bars plumbers and “battered wives”.

Talking to The Telegraph, Wilson said plumbers “come up with jobs that don’t need doing”.

“We have had a disproportionate amount ringing up and them saying ‘this needs doing, that needs doing and I’ll send you a bill’, and you think ‘Christ, they are having me on’.”

The 69-year-old also said he felt sorry for victims of domestic abuse, but he won’t accept them as tenants because aggressive partners cause damage to his properties.

“It costs us money and we basically have all the trouble of putting it back together again,” he said. “You have the property empty for a couple of months if something like paint has been thrown around. If we don’t take battered wives, this doesn’t happen.

“It is just economics,” he said. “I live in the big bad world of reality, if I do not let properties and do not get the rent then I do not eat, I starve to death… it is the Government’s job to help poor people.”