In a surprising statement, the Generation Rent activist group says it is behind the move by the government to give the vote to 16 and 17 year olds, amongst a package of other changes.

Yesterday evening the group issued a statement saying: “Following a successful campaign by Generation Rent, the government today announced voting reforms which will make sure millions more renters can cast our vote at future elections.”

The minimum voting age is already 16 for local council elections in Scotland and Wales, and elections to the Welsh Senedd and Scottish Parliament. However for other elections, including to the UK Parliament, local elections in England and all elections in Northern Ireland, it is 18.

A pledge to lower the voting age to 16 was included in Labour’s election manifesto but did not feature in last summer’s King’s Speech, which sets out the government’s priorities for the months ahead.

The move will be the biggest change to UK voting rights since the age to vote was reduced from 21 to 18 in 1969.

In addition to the voting age change, the reforms will also include elements of automated voter registration, which Generation Rent claims to have championed. 

It says its research found that automated voter registration has the potential to make voting easier for 91% of UK private renters aged 16 or over. With 66% of private renters not registered at their current address, and 6.8m private renters eligible to vote, this could give 2.3m more renters a vote at the next election.

The campaign group claims that private renters are “significantly underrepresented on the electoral register” and it says some 1m renters are not registered to vote at all.

The statement continues: “Private renters, often forced to move home several times between elections, are among the most at risk of falling off the electoral register. These reforms remove barriers to voting for renters, and this is great news for our democracy. Automated voter registration will keep the vast majority of renters on the electoral register even as we move, protecting the opportunity for millions more voters to have their say.”