Campaigning group turns focus to rent controls after eviction reform success

Generation Rent has said it will turn its campaigning efforts to securing rent controls now that the Renters’ Rights Act has become law.

The activist group, which has campaigned for a decade to abolish Section 21 no-fault evictions, says that although the landmark Renters’ Rights Bill received Royal Assent on 27 October, it fails to address the cost-of-renting crisis that is forcing thousands of tenants out of their homes.

Ben Twomey (pictured), its Chief Executive, has called the Act a ‘positive step’ that delivers greater security, protections and rights for renters, but adds it is still only a step and that the Government must now tackle runaway rents.

The glaring gap in the Act is the lack of any measures to reduce the soaring cost of renting.”

“The glaring gap in the Act is the lack of any measures to reduce the soaring cost of renting. Landlords will still be able to use sudden rent hikes as an economic eviction to price their tenant out of the home,” he says.

As part of its ongoing campaign in the area, Generation Rent backed a petition in the summer calling for caps on rent rises that was delivered to 10 Downing Street with nearly 57,000 signatures.

Twomey says that polling by the Renters’ Reform Coalition found more than a third of renters would be forced to move by a rent increase of £110 per month.

Devolution demands

The campaign group is advocating that the Government introduces measures similar to those proposed by London Mayor Sadiq Khan, including handing extra powers to Metro Mayors.

Twomey concludes: “The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill will start the parliamentary process in the autumn. Within it, the Government should include powers for Mayors to introduce a limit on rent rises in their areas.”

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Author: Gemma