A letter from a coalition of pro-tenant groups has been sent to the leaders of the Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat, Reform and Green parties giving them what the writers call a “warning”.
The Renters Reform Coalition claims it’s made up of “20 leading organisations” – in reality, these include the National Union of Students, the London Renters’ Union, a body called London Renters Rights, the Camden Federation of Private Tenants, the Greater Manchester Tenants Union, as well as larger bodies such as Shelter, Crisis and Generation Rent.
Its lengthy letter includes these statements: “As organisations representing and working with tens of thousands of private renters across the UK, we are warning the next government that the housing emergency is set to deepen unless major action is taken as part of a serious housing policy offer.
“This could be the last chance to fix our broken renting system before countless more renters face homelessness, poverty and exploitation.”
The letter went on to claim that the “skyrocketing cost of housing” is fuelling a 49% rise in evictions with a record number of children now live in temporary accommodation.
“The reason for this crisis is an over-reliance on unregulated private landlords to meet the nation’s housing needs” say the activists, adding that the government is effectively subsidising landlords by spending billions on housing support for people in private rented accommodation instead of building social housing.
The groups tell the leaders that the next government “must urgently prioritise the right to housing for its citizens over the profits of landlords” and adopt three measures:
– Abolishing no-fault evictions “in full and without loopholes”, requiring landlords to sell a home with a sitting tenant if they wish to stay;
– Rent regulation so that no one should have to spend more than 30% of their income on rent;
– Ending Right to Buy and investing in a “huge public housebuilding programme” to deliver 3.1m council homes by 2044/
“We urge you to engage with these proposals and be bold in addressing one of the most urgent social crises Britain faces” the activists plead.