Tenants’ union Acorn has urged Labour to curb ‘upfront payments’ for new tenants to one month’s rent in a bid to make rented homes more affordable.
It also wants in-tenancy rent rises to be capped and stronger action on illegal evictions following the second reading of the Renters’ Rights Bill, The Canary reports. Acorn believes local authorities should have a legal duty to act and be properly resourced while landlord licensing schemes should be made easier to implement.
Acorn board member Eleesha Taylor-Barrett (pictured) says as a renter who has experienced horrible mould and damp while paying extortionate rents, she’s pleased that the government is finally taking the issues facing private renters seriously.
However, she adds: “Most renters are already spending way more than 30% of their income on rent, and prices just keep rising. Searching for a new home is almost impossible unless you have thousands of pounds saved up for a deposit and are willing to bid over your budget against other tenants.
“One action the government could take right now is to implement a cap on the amount of money landlords can ask new tenants to pay upfront to one month. That way we can begin moving towards a housing system that doesn’t push people into poverty.”
Acorn points to new research by letting agent network Lomond that shows the number of tenanted properties being listed on the sales market has fallen by nearly 20% since the end of June. Last month, 10,041 properties with tenants still in situ were listed, down from 12,423 properties listed in June.
The campaigning group adds: “This suggests that the Renters’ Rights Bill has not yet resulted in the mass exodus of landlords that right-wing talking heads feared it would.”
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