THOUSANDS of complaints from tenants suffering at the hands of rogue landlords are being lodged every year, with campaigners warning of a massive increase in problems over the last two years.

Citizens Advice Scotland said it received more than 6,000 complaints last year, with evidence of multiple cases of landlords failing to meet their legal responsibilities, refusing to do basic repairs and bullying or intimidating their tenants.

It said it represents an increase of 23 per cent of such complaints over the previous two years, and amounts to 24 cases every working day.

CAS is urging tenants to stand up for their rights and challenge "unacceptable landlord behaviour".

Shelter Scotland, meanwhile, said that the private rented sector accounted for only 14 per cent of all households in Scotland but 42 per cent of calls to its helpline were from people with complaints about landlords.

Aileen Wright, 43, is hoping to be able to be leave her home in the south of Scotland with her 10-year-old daughter, Amalia.

She has faced years of struggling to have repairs done including getting the gas boiler repaired and damp tackled.

She said: "It has been one thing after another. There is damp next to my daughter's bed and the boiler kept packing up. That got changed after being shut down 28 times in as many days."

Patrick Hogan, CAS housing spokesman, said the figures provide a "shocking insight into the worst corners of the private rented sector in Scotland".

He said: "While most private landlords are responsible and doing right by their tenants, our evidence shows there are far too many who are not.

"We regularly see incidents of poor quality housing, dampness and condensation, poor electrical wiring and un-safe appliances not being repaired with landlords too often responding to complaints by harassing, threatening and bullying.

“In publishing this evidence, we are calling on local authorities and the Scottish Government to re-double their efforts to monitor the private rented sector and crackdown on those who are giving it a bad name.

"We also call on all landlords to make sure they are doing right by their tenants."

He also said: “But we also have a message today for private sector tenants: make sure you know what your rights are, and don’t put up with un-acceptable behaviour from your landlord."

Graeme Brown, director of Shelter Scotland, said: “All too often we hear of people living in disrepair, being evicted or rents increasing unreasonably, forcing families and individuals into the disruptive cycle of having to move house – every six months in some cases – preventing them from ever being able to put down strong roots and being part of a community.

“We want private renters to have the right and access to good quality, long-term homes, not just short-term housing."

John Blackwood, chief executive of the Scottish Association of Landlords, said that it supports moves to weed out rogue and for tenants to act if they encounter problems with individual landlords.

He said: "As the CAS report acknowledges most private landlords are doing the right thing and acting responsibly.

"The sector is already, and rightly, heavily regulated but it is important that those existing rules are enforced to ensure that rogue and criminal landlords are driven out of the market."

Mr Blackwood added: "These individuals do enormous harm to the reputation and business of our members and we will work with any partners to do more to eliminate them and their practices.

"SAL welcomes the call from CAS to encourage tenants to know their rights and take action against such bad practice.”

Edinburgh City Council had to take action in 2013 against one man described by a tenant group as the city's "worst landlord".

Mark Fortune, who had been convicted of offences linked to his flat-letting business, was banned from renting out properties in the Scottish capital after the move.

In September 2011 he was fined £650 for threatening tenants. In March that year he was fined £1000 for operating an unlicensed House in Multiple Occupation.