Speaking at a London fundraiser, she said voters believe the system is “rigged against them” and insisted the government should show promise to help them.
Pressure on landlords is mounting. Rayner’s remarks come just before the 1 May local elections and amid reports that Labour may bring Capital Gains Tax in line with income tax — a shift that would hit landlords selling up with far higher bills.
She warned that many working families, including professionals holding down multiple jobs, are still struggling to make ends meet.
Rayner said: “They feel that nobody understands and cares about the difficulties they go through.
“These are professional people, people that are working really hard, people that have got two, three jobs and they’re still not able to get to the end of the month with their wage packet.”
She continued “They need to know they have got a government on their side, and they are impatient for change and I understand their impatience. So, I think we have to pick more fights, personally.”
Housing was a central theme of Rayner’s speech, with particular focus on the leasehold system and the role of freeholders who collect ground rent.
Government proposals published earlier this year would cap ground rents at £250 a year before reducing them to a peppercorn level after 40 years.
The plans follow an online media’s analysis showing that such a cap could generate an £8.7?billion windfall for buy-to-let landlords who own leasehold flats.
Rayner criticised freeholders who charge ground rent, describing them as “ripping off people for no money”, and added: “People have bought flats and are now being absolutely fleeced. We should be standing up for them, we should be saying we are not having that anymore.”
Her intervention follows recent warnings that Labour has limited time left to recalibrate its strategy ahead of the 1 May local elections.
Simultaneously, pressure for rent controls is mounting. Tenant organisations have renewed their calls for caps, with the London Renters Union describing Labour’s current approach as “pro-landlord” and urging more decisive action on housing costs.
This aligns with a national rent-control protest planned by the Green Party, suggesting that landlords are now subject to converging political and grassroots pressure.
Implications for landlords as leasehold investors should note that ground-rent reforms remain on course. The proposed £250 cap would advantage landlords with leasehold flats, although Rayner’s comments indicate that further action on leasehold practices is politically conceivable.
Key consideration is Post-election adjustments. Labour continues to face calls from tenant organisations and internal voices to adopt stronger measures on rents and property taxation.
Overall: While political rhetoric is heating up ahead of the May elections, the direction of travel on major policies — including the RRA, ground-rent caps and the CGT review — has not shifted.