Three in five private renters (60%) were asked to pay a higher rent in the past year, our latest survey reveals.
The number of tenants who report their landlord has passed on rising interest rates has tripled since the last survey in November (from 4% to 12% of all private renters), but the most common reason for rent increases is rising market rents (17%).
Evictions are also up, with 20% of private renters being told to move out in the past 12 months, including 12% being served a no-fault Section 21 notice. This is up from 14% in November, when 9% had been served a Section 21.
We are calling on the government to abolish Section 21 evictions and make it easier to challenge rent rises as soon as possible through the Renters Reform Bill. With many landlords struggling to cover interest rate rises, tenants need protection from unaffordable rent hikes and where landlords need to sell, the government should introduce measures to encourage them to sell with sitting tenants. To make renting more affordable, the government also needs to relink Local Housing Allowance with market rents, and do more to build more homes in the places people want to live.
We surveyed 1021 supporters who rent from private landlords online in June and July. The findings on rents include:
- 60% have faced a rent increase in the past year, up from 50% in November and 45% 12 months ago.
- 20% of all private renters (i.e. one third of those who faced a rent rise) were asked to pay more than £100 more per month, up from 12% in November.
- 66% of people facing rises of £100 or more per month are now paying those – 15% negotiated it down and 10% have moved out as a result. In contrast, 90% of people facing rises of £50 or less are paying those increases. 10% of respondents whose rise was between £50 and £100 successfully negotiated it down. Just three respondents said they had challenged the rent increase at tribunal.
- The survey asked if the landlord or letting agent gave a reason for the increase in rent. 12% of private renters had their rent increased because of higher mortgage payments, up from 4% in November. However, the most common reason given was “higher market rents” at 17%, up from 16% in November. Cost of living/inflation was also up as a cause of rent increases, affecting 11% of private renters compared with 7% in November.
Our analysis of UK Finance and Bank of England figures estimates that 14% of private tenancies are vulnerable to unsustainable increases in mortgage rates. While this is equivalent to around 800,000 households, it means that interest rates are less of a factor in setting rents than wider market forces.
As well as unaffordable rent increases, evictions are up. One in five private renters (20%) has been forced to move in the past year, up from 14% in 2022. Of all private renters, 12% were given a formal Section 21 notice, while 5% were asked to leave without a formal notice (up from 9% and 3% in November).
We also asked renters what barriers or dodgy practices they had encountered when they last moved home. Some have been common for many years, while others have only increased in the past year or two.
- The current crisis in the rental market is characterised by mass viewings, which are up from 9% 5 years ago to 39% in the past year.
- Tenants being drawn into bidding wars is also up dramatically, experienced by 21% of flathunters compared with 3% pre-2018. Providing a CV, photos etc, is similarly common (22%) but the increase since Covid is less startling (9%).
- Tenants being asked to sign tenancies lasting longer than a year is also up in recent years, but the numbers are comparatively low (peak of 12%).
- Being asked for multiple months’ rent up front to secure a tenancy is slightly down on previous years (30% in 2020-22 to 21% in past year).
- Being asked to provide a guarantor is also relatively common (34%), but has not seen a big increase in the same way as other practices.
Our survey shows that a cost of renting crisis is forcing tenants to bear the worst of the current economic turmoil. While many mortgage holders have yet to see their monthly payments increase, most private renters have already faced a rent hike this past year.
So far only a minority of landlords have been affected so badly by rising rates that they are passing them on to tenants. But the rising cost of rent is a much wider problem caused by the failure to build enough homes where people want to live, and the ability of landlords to raise rents regardless of what their tenant can afford.
The government’s response to this needs to put tenants first: prevent unaffordable rent increases, and protect tenants in their homes if their landlord needs to sell. Tenants relying on benefits need their housing support raised to cover what rents actually cost, and to meet demand, we need a massive programme of building, particularly of social housing.
If you would like to support our fight to get the Renters (Reform) Bill passed as soon as possible make sure to sign up to act here.
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