Five councils have contracted the Generation Rent activist group to help them better ‘understand the issues’ within the PRS.

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The initiative, called Safe Suffolk Renters task force involves all five of the county’s district and borough councils to “improve experiences for both landlords and tenants in the private rented sector.”

By collaborating with Generation Rent, they aim to gain a deeper insight into the diverse housing challenges faced across the county.

The majority of respondents - 75% - struggled to find affordable rental homes in their area. whilst 50% percent of those surveyed reported rent increases in the past six months, averaging an additional £58 per month.

Most respondents indicated they had encountered issues in their homes needing landlord attention, but fewer than half saw these issues successfully resolved. As a result, many had to either address the problems themselves (26%) or leave them unresolved (30%).

Safe Suffolk Renters is now planning to undertake what it describes as “even more proactive and targeted inspections using other evidence at its disposal, to improve this issue.”

Concerns over national security of tenure were also significant, with Section 21 evictions seemingly deterring some tenants from making complaints or requesting repairs.

Additionally, the engagement work revealed that problems in the private rented sector impact older adults just as much as younger generations.

An East Suffolk councillor says: “The majority of Suffolk landlords provide good quality accommodation – and this report highlights both positive and negative experiences for renters.

“Safe Suffolk Renters works with landlords and tenants to support solutions to poor housing conditions and enable self-regulation, while bringing to light landlords who do not engage and improve their properties. It’s important to protect renters from housing insecurity risk arising from existing and emerging factors.”

Chief executive of Generation Rent Ben Twomey, adds: “The experience of Suffolk renters is now out in the open. Despite the relative advantage of more affordable homes compared to the surrounding area, tenants in Suffolk are under threat from rising rents, a proliferation of short term lets, and the risk of eviction even if they have done nothing wrong.