Campaigners slammed the government yesterday for its contemptuous rejection of a report into Britain's housing crisis by UN special rapporteur Raquel Rolnik.

Ms Rolnik, who visited the country on a fact-finding mission last summer, published her final report on Monday.

It called for greater investment in affordable housing, a suspension of the hated bedroom tax and increased regulation of the private rented sector where rents are spiralling.

Panicked Housing Minister Kris Hopkins immediately dismissed Ms Rolnik's comprehensive research as a "Marxist diatribe," while the Department for Work and Pensions claimed desperately that conclusions drawn from the rapporteur's meetings with bedroom tax victims were based on "anecdotal evidence."

But legal aid barrister specialising in housing and homelessness Liz Davies said yesterday that the report's study of British housing policy over the 20th century and its recommendations for improvement were "really impressive."

"Ministers' personal attacks on Ms Rolnik show how rattled they are," she said.

"She places housing policy in the context of 'welfare reform' including the bedroom tax, the end of 100 per cent council tax benefit, caps on housing benefit and legal aid cuts.

"The most vulnerable face fuel poverty and deteriorating living conditions. People are cutting down on essential meals.

"Her conclusion that 'this can be described as a housing crisis' will not surprise anyone familiar with the facts."

Housing campaigner Glyn Robbins welcomed the report.

"It shows government policy is in breach of international standards," he said. "This isn't some Marxist conspiracy - this is the UN.

"If the coalition is going to ignore it then Labour must commit to act on these proposals."