Letting agents accused of “profiteering” rent rises

A new manifesto calling for rent controls and a raft of other measures is accusing the current rent rises of being driven by “profiteering” letting agents. 

A collection of pro-tenant pressure groups has issued a manifesto of demands which it wants politicians of all parties to accept. 

“This includes the statement: An affordable home is increasingly out of reach for many, with high rents pushing more and more people into financial hardship. Excessive rent rises are driven by profiteering by letting agents and landlords. 

“The market isn’t regulating itself; it is the Government’s responsibility to make sure everyone can access an affordable home. No one should have to spend more than 30% of their income on rent. We need rent controls that bring rents down and maintain them at this level. Local incomes should be factored in when these controls are set, and they should be accountable to renters.”

The demands also include one saying that unspecified “protections” should be put in place “to make sure that tenants who receive benefits (often women, families, or people with long-term conditions or disabilities), are not discriminated against by landlords and letting agents.”

It also wants councils to have a statutory duty to prosecute letting agents who discriminate against “LGBTQ+ people, those with mental health and learning disabilities, people with physical disabilities, survivors of domestic violence, migrant communities, asylum seekers and marginalised racial or ethnic groups (including People of Colour, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people).”

The far-reaching manifesto comes from a collection of pressure groups fronted by Generation Rent and including New Economics Foundation, direct action advocates Acorn, plus the London Renters Union and Greater Manchester Tenants Union. 

Other demands include:

- A clear commitment to giving local authorities and community-led housing schemes first refusal on private rented properties entering the market to buy them into public ownership;

- An end to Section 21 evictions and, where landlords are allowed to get back their properties, relocation payments for tenants;

- Any landlord selling must sell with a sitting tenant if they wish to stay; and all tenants must have an unspecified right to defend themselves against an eviction with access to legal aid;

- Even lodgers and licensees should have stronger legal protections against evictions;

- All tenancies should be open-ended for all tenants “so they can leave when they need to and can expect to stay as long as they like”;

- No one should have to spend more than 30 per cent of their income on rent, with controls that bring rents down and maintain them at this level;

- There should be mandatory national registration of all private landlords, agents, and rented properties;

- All rented homes should be brought up to an EPC C or above, enforced by councils, with tenants entitled to claim rent back on homes that are not energy efficient;

- Tenants should have the right to decorate their homes and have pets, and “cosmetic alterations and redecorating should not count towards deposit deductions”;

- Local Housing Allowance must be unfrozen and “made immediately available to any tenant when they need to claim this”;

- End Right to Rent and nationality requirements for social housing. There should be no immigration checks in licensing or enforcement regimes;

- More provisions (which are not specified in the manifesto) for “LGBTQ+ people, those with mental health and learning disabilities, people with physical disabilities, survivors of domestic violence, migrant communities, asylum seekers and marginalised racial or ethnic groups (including People of Colour, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people)”;

- Tenant unions should be consulted proactively by the government “and given a seat at the table when making decisions that will affect renters”;

- End Right To Buy and “government investment in a huge public house building programme that should aim to deliver 3.1m council homes over 20 years”;

- Holiday lets and short term lets must be “licensed and limited”. 

The groups’ spokesperson, Conor O’Shea, says: “It’s clear Britain needs more homes but simply supporting developers to build lots of expensive market-rate housing won’t bring housing costs down to affordable levels for the millions of people trapped in poverty by sky-high rents. What renters really need is an ambitious public housing building program that delivers 3.1m council homes over 20 years and urgent action to fix the wild west private rented sector.”

“Britain’s 13m renters still face the constant threat of eviction, record rent rises and unsafe conditions. Our rigged housing system is a key cause of inequality.” 

“From Newcastle to Newham, all of us deserve an affordable home where we can live a good life with dignity. Promises to ramp up house building will take many years to deliver and people stuck in the private rented sector in the here and now urgently need proper protections from unfair eviction, eye-watering rent rises and dangerous disrepair. 

“Politicians across all parties are failing to tackle the power imbalance between landlords and tenants. They must listen to renters or risk deepening the crisis further.”