6th
Jan 2020
Generation Rent, the long time campaign group Wilson Craw that has always been highly critical of letting agents and landlords, is urging the new government to put processes into play to bring down rents, which will be in effect a copy of Labour's pledge to introduce rent controls.
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The group's two pronged attack on the private rented sector includes demanding the Prime Minister to carry out his electoral promise in 'outlawing ' section 21 notices.
Generation Rent director Dan Wilson Craw, said: "The Conservatives re-enter government with a manifesto commitment to abolish no-fault evictions. This is the key to giving renters security in their homes and preventing homelessness, and with cross-party support this should be at the top of the government’s agenda.
“But to get it right, the government’s reforms must protect tenants whose landlord needs to sell, and prevent unscrupulous landlords from using rent rises to bully their tenants.
"Beyond this, the Conservatives want more home owners, and have promised longer term mortgages and discounted starter homes. But when two thirds of the private renter population has no savings at all - let alone enough for a deposit - the impact of these policies will be minimal.
"The priority should therefore be to bring down rents.”
He added: “To do this the government must look to their opponents' manifesto pledges to invest in hundreds of thousands of new social homes. This would help the worst-off tenants escape private sector rents, reducing demand in the wider market. Lower rents would then leave more money in tenants’ pockets – whether it helps them buy a house, or provides much-needed financial resilience."
Richard Merrick of PIMS:" It is hard to believe that Generation Rent will no doubt refuse to accept that any form of rent control, coupled with the intended dilution of landlords' powers to evict 'rogue' tenants, will see private rented housing stock disappear in droves, which will of course force up rents.
"Why doesn't the group campaign against rising utility prices, higher food prices that also have a major monthly impact on tenants' welfare and standards of living?
"Also why do rail companies get away with charging the highest fares throughout the whole of Europe which for all types of commuters is frankly ridiculous?
"But no this would be far from media friendly, and to say that tenants should be protected against landlords who need to sell their properties has left us all utterly speechless."
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