The organisation says Labour must embrace rent controls — a stance Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has repeatedly rejected — or risk alienating private renters who believe the party is failing to meet the scale of the crisis.
Its campaigns lead, Nye Jones, set out the group’s position in a piece for LabourList, the political website.
LabourList, funded through trade union support and individual donations, presents itself as a forum for the party’s grassroots members.
Generation Rent maintains strong ties to the Labour movement, with former Labour MP Dame Karen Buck serving as its chair and ex-Labour election candidate Ben Twomey leading the organisation as chief executive.
In his article, Nye Jones tells LabourList’s activist readership that the Renters Rights Act leaves “a glaring hole”, arguing that it fails to address “the soaring cost of renting”.
He also says: “We believe a common sense solution to this problem is a cap on how much landlords can raise the rent, linked to the lower of inflation or wage growth. This would protect renters from sudden, unaffordable rent hikes, while still giving landlords room to raise the rent modestly in line with inflation.”
He argues that Labour cannot afford to postpone a commitment to bolder housing reforms, warning that hesitation could carry electoral costs.
According to his analysis, private renters formed Labour’s strongest base in the 2024 election. He adds that new polling suggests some of that support is now drifting towards smaller left-wing parties that back rent controls, a policy he says resonates strongly with frustrated tenants.
He also warns of a further threat and says: “With Green Leader Zack Polanski enthusiastically supporting rent controls, polling shows the Greens have already taken one sixth of Labour’s support from the last election and are likely to win many traditionally Labour seats in urban areas.”
He has a go at the Prime Minister: “Starmer categorically said that people who receive additional income from assets such as property wouldn’t come within his definition of working people. Half of private renters have no savings whatsoever, while the vast majority are working.
“Meanwhile, just 42% of landlords declare mortgage interest payments on their tax returns, meaning close to three in five … don’t have a mortgage.”