Campaign groups say government plans to help millions of people who rent in the UK don’t go “anywhere near enough” and are calling for a national price cap to be included.

The Renter’s Reform Bill white paper, published in June, includes protections that will ban landlords using Section 21 “no fault” evictions and empower tenants to challenge poor housing standards and unjustified rent increases.

However, with research showing average room rentals in dozens of UK towns and cities reaching record highs, there are calls for the bill to be toughened up.

“There’s some really good things in the current Renter’s Reform Bill White Bill, for example ending Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, which will mean tenants aren’t being kicked out of their homes for no reason. But it doesn’t go anywhere near far enough on affordability,” says Anny Cullum, policy officer at housing campaign group Acorn.

“What we want to see is caps and rent controls put in. We can’t rely on landlords to regulate themselves – at the end of the day they are businesspeople, and they’ll take advantage of opportunities to make as much profit as they can.”

The call comes as figures show record high rates for renting rooms across the UK.

According to the flat sharing website SpareRoom, room rents in 40 of the 50 biggest towns and cities in the UK have reached record levels.

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It says average monthly room rents in London are up 15% in the second quarter of this year compared to 2021, to £815, while room rents have risen 21% in Sunderland, 20% in Belfast and 18% in Cardiff.

Sarah Emm rents a bedroom in a large house in London with 12 others – she pays £700 per month including bills, around 60% of her earnings, and is now facing a hike in rent.

“Recently, our landlord has written to us saying he’s increasing the rent by £50 per person per month. It doesn’t sound a lot, but when we’re already trying to scrape together the rent as it is, it is a lot of money on top of that, so we’ve come together as a house to challenge that as well.”

Sarah says the lack of affordability means when rooms in their house become available, demand is high.

“What we’ve found is people are desperate for places to live,” she said.

“For one room, we’ve had up to 30 people apply for the room in the space of the week. We try to see them all and see who would be best to move in. Most people are ready to move in immediately, they’re sofa surfing, they’re living at a mate’s, crashing at a hostel, people are desperate for houses.”

There are around 4.4 million private renters in the UK, and there is concern that increasing utility bills this coming autumn could make many rented homes unaffordable.

‘Landlords aren’t getting greedy – they’re just trying to cover the costs’

But organisations representing landlords say increasing rents is not a case of profiteering.

Chris Norris, policy director at the National Residential Landlords Association, said: “I wish it was as simple as landlords getting greedy and them wanting to make a bit more profit.

“Actually, we’re seeing the opposite. We’re seeing our members’ yields – their return on investment – go down, because it’s that much more expensive to buy a property, it’s that much more expensive to run a business, so actually where we are seeing the increases it’s to cover things like increased tax, utility bills, cost of management, it’s not because they’re protecting the margin.”

London Mayor Sadiq Khan told Sky News he wants to introduce a bespoke rent control system in the capital to ease the pressure: “I’m really worried that those renting privately in London are facing a triple whammy.

“A massive increase in energy bills, a massive increase in inflation, but also a massive increase in the rent they pay to their private landlord.

“This is exacerbating the cost of living crisis they’re facing. What needs to happen urgently is for the government for the next two years to be freezing the rents tenants pay to private landlords.

“We’ve calculated that will save the average renter in London about £3,000.”

Read more:
Which areas in England are worst affected by the housing crisis? And what’s pushing up prices?
Rising rents driving record homelessness among private tenants, Sky News analysis reveals

A government spokesperson told Sky News: “We recognise people are facing pressures with the cost of living and that paying rent is likely to be a tenant’s biggest monthly expense. That is why we have taken action through our £37bn support package to help households with rising costs.

“Our Renters’ Reform Bill will deliver a fairer deal for renters, bringing into law new measures to protect tenants by abolishing Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions and empowering them to challenge poor practice, poor housing standards and unjustified rent increases.”

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