Activist group Generation Rent – which has demanded rent freezes, eviction bans and cash hand-outs to help tenants move now wants additional government action to help tenants.

Its chief executive Ben Twomey says: “Soaring rents since the pandemic are now having a knock-on effect on the number of homes being advertised to rent. 

“Many tenants might want to move but simply cannot because the rent on a new tenancy is now far higher than what they are currently paying. That means fewer properties are becoming available and those that do are being snapped up more quickly by tenants who do need to move. That is keeping rents high and unaffordable for many.”

And his call to action continues: “To bring rents back within reach of people on ordinary incomes, the government needs to build more homes in the places people want to live. That must also include many more social homes so that people on low incomes can live near their workplaces and families.”

Generation Rent analysis in June of deposit protection data indicated that the proportion of private renters moving in a given year has fallen from 40 per cent in 2018-19 to 31 per cent in 2022-23, meaning fewer properties are being advertised for rent.