Private renters want the next government to control the pace of rent rises, build more homes and increase their rights and protections.

A pre-election survey by Zoopla into housing priorities reveals that rental cost is the biggest concern for 33% of voters across all tenures, while 21% said giving renters in the PRS more rights in relation to evictions and rent rises was important.

Zoopla believes that although the political parties are aligned on the need for a new government to deliver rental reforms, measures to manage or control rental inflation haven’t been proposed in England due to the risk this could reduce new investment in homes.

While renters are most worried about rent, building more housing was at the top of most respondents’ priority list for the next government (44%), followed by tackling homelessness (41%) and reducing the number of empty homes (39%). Despite first-time buyers being a focus of several housing pledges by the political parties, this was a lower ranked priority.

Manifestos

The party manifestos continue to target 300,000 or more homes a year in England, but this level hasn’t been reached for more than 40 years. In 2023, home building (measured by net additions to supply) fell 65,000 homes short of the 300,000 mark, says Zoopla.

However, opinion is divided about how to fund the building of more affordable housing; the survey found 41% support the idea that increased government borrowing should be used while only 26% are willing to see taxes rise to pay for it.

Richard Donnell (pictured), executive director at Zoopla, says: “British voters have high expectations from a new government on housing. The overarching response is ‘build more homes, but other things matter too’.”