Some buy-to-let property courses are urging members to cash in on rising home repossessions by persuading desperate homeowners to sell and rent back their properties.

More than 20 groups in Britain are promoting the technique as a get-rich-quick method, according to an investigation in Investors Chronicle. Those attending free seminars are put under pressure to sign up to expensive courses which will teach them how to “exploit the falling price of property”.

Some are told to target homeowners on the brink of repossession as a way of forcing down prices and securing “instant tenants”. Courses are being advertised at between £1,500 and £5,000. One company advised evicting tenants after six months to reduce the potential risks from people who might struggle to pay rent.

Adam Sampson, of Shelter, the housing charity, said: “These seminars are basically groups of unprincipled people working together to discuss how they can profit from other people’s misery and distress.”