RMT rail union leader Mick Lynch and Labour leaders including Andy Burnham and Sadiq Khan are leading a call for an immediate private rent freeze.

They claim that landlords “with the encouragement of letting agents” are using the cost of living crisis as an opportunity to introduce rent hikes.

The left wingers have been joined by a large number of less high profile Labour council chiefs, plus Green Party leaders, anti-landlord activists and charities in signing an open letter on the subject to Housing Secretary Michael Gove.

The letter says:

Dear Rt Hon Mr Michael Gove MP,

We are writing to urge the government to follow the Scottish government and introduce an immediate freeze on rents, to help renters weather the worst of the cost of living crisis and help prevent huge numbers of renters facing homelessness in the coming months. 

Rising costs of food and energy mean millions are struggling to make ends meet.  Last year 2.5 million renters were behind or constantly struggling to pay their rent.

At the same time, rents have been skyrocketing across the UK, rising fastest in Manchester, Bristol, Sheffield and Birmingham, reaching as high as 20.5 per cent.

Rents in London have gone up 17.5 per cent on average last up year, and rent increases of 30-50 per cent are increasingly common.

Renters are among the worst affected by the cost of living crisis. Prior to this crisis, renters were already spending four to five times as much as owner-occupiers on housing. 

Yet landlords, with the encouragement of letting agents, are using this crisis as an opportunity to introduce rent hikes. In September 2022 alone, one million renters faced a rent increase.

Some landlords will be struggling with increased mortgage costs, but many will not. 

Generation Rent research shows that just 11 per cent of rent increases in 2022 were the result of higher mortgage rates.

Just under half of rental properties have a mortgage and most of those have ‘interest only’ mortgages. The vast majority of landlords have far greater financial resilience to weather the storm ahead, with the median annual income of landlords before their income from rent is taken into account at £55,415.

In comparison, many renters are low paid, in precarious work and have no savings or assets. Some landlords that are facing increased mortgage costs are trying to pass those costs on to renters that simply cannot afford it. 

People living in private rented housing are all too often forgotten by the government. 

During the pandemic, the government introduced a temporary freeze for mortgage holders, but nothing close in comparison for those renting. Renters are still desperately waiting for the ban on no-fault evictions that the Government has been promising since 2019. Since last year there has been a 121.1 per cent increase in the number of households served a section 21 notice.

It comes as no surprise that 1.7 million households could become homelessness in these colder months. 

The immediate support renters need in the crisis is clear. The Scottish government has introduced a freeze on rents until at least March 2023, with an accompanying ban on evictions. 

However, the Scottish government does not have the power to embed support for low income mortgage holders within a rent freeze, whilst our Government does. 

A rent freeze could be accompanied by support for mortgage holders – ensuring renters and lower income homeowners do not lose their homes through the crisis.

The Mayor of London has repeatedly called for such measures to be introduced in England and Wales. A rent freeze would immediately relieve pressure on millions of people and halt an eviction crisis that would have a devastating social impact, and cost local councils and the government millions. 

The Government must now act to protect renters. We therefore call on the government to follow the lead of the Scottish government and:

– Introduce an immediate freeze on rents to protect renters;

– Implement an immediate ban on evictions until the cost of living crisis is over; 

– Deliver on the commitment to end section 21 by fast tracking the much-delayed Renters Reform Bill.