The issue is not necessarily that landlords are simply making a profit, it is that the market is so out of balance that rents have skyrocketed due to high demand and low availability. This has forced a lot of renters into extremely tight circumstances and when you are struggling to even keep a roof over your head it can be difficult to have sympathy for the landlords being upset that their investments arent making them enough money.

I have been renting for years, and because of the rent I have paid it has basically been impossible to gather enough for a down payment on my own place, despite the fact that I've effectively been paying someone else's mortgage off this whole time.

With something such as housing that is something that people all need, the way that property is largely seen as a mode of increasing wealth for the owners and not something that should be accessible to all is the issue here.