Activists say they are planning protests outside lettings agency offices this weekend.

Activists in the London Renters Union and Greater Manchester Tenants Union say they will stage the protests on Saturday to demand an immediate freeze on private rents. 

The London activists claim some of their group have faced an average rent increase of £3,378 per year – which it says is 20.5 per cent – with many facing rent increases “upwards of 50 per cent.”

In a statement the activists say: “Rent gouging currently dwarfs inflation, which hit a 40-year high of 9.6 per cent last month” and it cites an unsourced Shelter report that 1m renters are receiving a rent increase each month. 

The activists cite Foxtons enjoying a 25 per cent increased in revenues “off the back of skyrocketing rents” and points out that former chief executive Nic Budden “was handed £1.6m in pay.” 

They also claim that many landlords are exploiting the cost of living crisis to hike rents well above incomes. 

An activist quoted by the two groups – going by the single name of Connor – says: “My partner and I were forced out of our home when our landlord tried to put up the rent by £8,000 per year. Finding a new place was a real struggle and in the end we were forced to move in somewhere £200 more per month than before. I now have to work two jobs to make ends meet. We’re taking action because the government is doing nothing to protect renters. Instead of prioritising the profits of landlords and estate agents, the government must step in to protect renters with a rent freeze like in Scotland.”

Alva Gotby, a London Rental Union member, adds: “My housemates and I faced a £300 monthly increase, and the landlord refused to negotiate with us. When we asked why the rent was increasing so much, he just shrugged. I’m unemployed and one of my housemates receives disability benefits, so we can’t move somewhere else because no letting agent would rent to us. We had no choice but to accept the increase. We felt really powerless, like our landlord controls our life. 

“Talking to other people, it’s clear that estate agents are deliberately causing these rent hikes by encouraging landlords to raise rents and encouraging bidding wars. A rent freeze would relieve pressure on millions of people this winter so why won’t the government put one in place?”