Sadiq Khan publishes vision for London’s rental market
The Mayor of London has come out firmly in favour of our campaign to end unfair evictions – and has pushed the government to give him powers to bring in rent controls in the capital.
He was elected in 2016 on a pledge to shake up London’s private rented sector, and now, after a long consultation period, Sadiq Khan has unveiled his proposals.
A win on deposits and one step closer to regulating landlords
The letting fees ban is great and all, but now fees are out of the way, you still have to scrape together a large deposit before you can move home.
Well, we thought about that – last year we proposed a system where you could transfer part of your deposit to your next tenancy, once you’d done responsible things like pay your final month’s rent. We called this deposit passporting.
We couldn’t get it into the Tenant Fees Act (which came into force this month), but the government has been looking at it and today announced its support for deposit passporting!
Everything you need to know about the Tenant Fees Ban
After years of waiting, England’s Tenant Fees Ban is finally here. It means that letting agents and landlords won’t be able to charge extortionate fees when you move to a new home. Here are the top 6 things you need to know about the ban:
Revealed: Agents breaking laws on tenant fees
You read that right: before the ban on letting fees has even come into force (this Saturday, folks), letting agents are already flouting existing laws on fees. Since 2015 agents have been supposed to display details of the fees they charge tenants online, but we’ve found 21 that are not.
Local councils could be collecting £5000 in fines for these offences, so the fact that agents are still getting away with it does not fill us with confidence that the fees ban will be enforced effectively.
A register of landlords
Safe
A register of landlords
Fair – Make deposits affordable
Fair
Make deposits affordable
Safe Homes
What’s the problem?
One in seven private rented homes are unsafe. That could mean toxic levels of mould or faulty electrics causing a fire hazard. The Grenfell Fire is a horrifying reminder of what living in an unsafe home can really mean.
What can we do?
If your home is in disrepair and your landlord isn’t listening then you can ask your council to inspect your home or take your landlord to court to demand repairs. For lots of renters, this just isn’t realistic. Whether it’s lack of money or political will, councils aren’t enforcing safety standards in homes.
Generation Rent is holding councils to account. For the past two years, we’ve been asking councils to let us know how many ‘enforcement notices’ they have sent out to private landlords asking them to make repairs. You can see some of our data here and in The Guardian here
Our data show that only a handful of councils are reliably providing tenants with this protection. If councils aren’t routinely using their powers then tenants will continue to be cowed into silence.
Secure tenancies
Click here to sign our petition
What’s the problem?
Right now families in rented homes can be kicked out with just two months notice – without any valid reason. Some end up sharing a single room in temporary accommodation while others have to move miles away from their children’s schools. It’s unfair and its perfectly legal
Renter power
Putting tenants in charge
Sign our petition to make renting more affordable
What’s the problem
Rents are too expensive – most of us are paying more than 30% of our income in rent.
For those of us that rely on housing benefit to cover our rent, it’s much worse. Housing benefit rates have been frozen since 2016, meaning that rents are eating into the rest of our income.
Not only does the cost of rent reduce your disposable income, it weakens your position as a consumer – when you’re searching for a new home you’re under pressure to accept the first suitable home you can afford because someone else will take it if you don’t.
Moving home is also expensive – renters have to find £1084 on average for the deposit alone. In many cases they will have that kind of money already – but locked away as the deposit on the house they’re moving out of.
MPs snub renters over letting fees
The Government yesterday backed letting agents over renters by refusing to ban fees to tenants. In voting on the Consumer Rights Bill, Conservative and LibDem whips defeated the ban 281 to 228. The Government instead promised new fines for agents who don’t publish their fee tariff.