2nd
Sep 2021
Generation Rent are at it once again with their latest pathetic demand that landlords after selling their property must now pay any costs that former tenants incur when moving to another ‘home’.
The activist group has been for ‘time immemorial’ very damning of private rented sector landlords and their latest puerile demands, made over the last Bank Holiday, state that renters must now have open-ended tenancies to “give tenants stability and flexibility” and landlords “should pay the equivalent of two month’s rent towards tenants’ moving costs, to minimise the stress of moving.”
The campaign group states that on average the up-front cost incurred by tenants by an unforeseen move for “the median private renter household” is around £1,709 which includes, taking time off work, van hire, new broadband installation costs and the biggest drain being the deposit; as well as apparently having to fork out for “two weeks paying rent on two properties while moving.”
Generation Rent has ‘calculated’ costs for differing types of tenants when moving, such as £1,451 for a single parent with children and/or renters in a shared accommodation of a three bedroom property per person is £731.
The group claims that during 2019-20, 134,000 private tenant households had to move home because of eviction, a fixed-term tenancy ending, or “being faced with a rent increase” that was unaffordable.
It also states that results from a survey with 884 tenants who had rented a ‘home’ in the past five years, found that 56 per cent had to pay more rent when moving home. Along with the fiscal costs 44 per cent said they had to move further away from family and/or friends, 15 per cent ended up with their hospital further away and 5 per cent had to change schools.
Baroness Alicia Kennedy, the Generation’s Rent director, says: “Renters are shelling out millions to pay for house moves that they have no choice but to make. Not only is moving home expensive, it can force renters to move away from essential support networks, family and friends, and can disrupt children’s education.
“Renters deserve secure and stable homes where they can put down roots in their communities and thrive. With tenancies so short and evictions so common, this right is out of reach for millions of private renters.
“Generation Rent is calling on the government to commit to open ended tenancies in the upcoming Renters Reform White Paper, and to make landlords contribute to renters’ moving costs in the event of an unplanned and unavoidable move.”
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