Generation Rent supporter Jaime describes what it is like to face a sudden rent increase whilst renting as a family. 

Today we learned that the population of private renters grew by more than 1 million households between 2011 and 2021. 

One in five of us in England and Wales now rents from a private landlord - a huge increase in ten years, while the proportion of the population that owns their home has fallen. 

All that is stuff we had a pretty good idea about already, but for the first time we know where all those private renters are!

Since 2019, it has been illegal for letting agents and landlords to charge tenants fees for starting a tenancy - and for renewing one, and ending one. 

Tenants can challenge illegal fees at a Tribunal, and we recently discovered one of the biggest names in the property world, Foxtons, was ordered to refund tenants whom they charged illegal fees. 

2022 will soon be over so before the year ends we thought it would be a good idea to look back on all the highlights from the past year. 

Half of private renters have faced a rent increase in the last year, Generation Rent research finds today, as we call for the government to impose an emergency rent freeze to fight the cost of living crisis.

England’s housing supply lost nearly 11,000 properties to the second home and holiday let sector between 2021 and 2022, according to our new analysis of local tax data.

Content warning: Sexual offences

Research conducted by Generation Rent and Mumsnet has revealed a shocking prevalence of predatory behaviour, from unscrupulous landlords and letting agents towards tenants, in the private rented sector.

In a survey of 1045 submissions, respondents reported that unscrupulous landlords or letting agents had acted inappropriately or predatorily towards them in the past:

• 4% of respondents had been offered free or discounted rent in exchange for sexual favours
• 14% had experienced suggestive remarks
• 12% heard comments of a sexual nature
• 11% experienced unwanted comments about their body or appearance
• 4% had experienced unwanted touching

And private renters not in a relationship and on lower incomes were significantly more likely to report that they had experienced harassment and abuse.

Housing has always been an important aspect of the fight for racial equality. In celebration of Black History Month 2022, at Generation Rent we are commemorating the work of black campaigners and their fight towards housing equality. However, it is also important to acknowledge how far we still have to go.

In this episode of the podcast Sophie is joined by Zoe Avison from the Green Alliance to discuss how best to keep your home warm this winter and why insulation and greener, cheaper forms of energy are so important for renters. To find out more about the Green Alliance, visit their website here 

Freddie Poser is Director of PricedOut, the national campaign for affordable house prices

Being a renter can suck, and it seems to get worse every year with higher rents, unfair deposit deductions, no-fault evictions, application letters, and new listings being snapped up in mere seconds. What can we do? One path is to reform the rental market to give tenants more protections. Another, complementary, path is to improve the renters’ bargaining power by increasing the supply of properties on the market. But raising supply has been politically very difficult, with many reform efforts foundering on the rocks of public opposition. Street votes are different. While it might not change the world tomorrow, it might just deliver supply where other efforts have failed.

In this episode of the podcast, Sophie is joined by Rachael Maskell, the MP for York Central, Dr Tom Simcock Research Fellow & Research Manager of the Healthy Housing Initiative at the University of Huddersfield and Dan Wilson Craw, Deputy Director of Generation Rent to discuss holiday lets, their impact on the private rented sector and what potential solutions their are to mitigate their impact on local housing.

If you would like to find out more about our work on holiday lets you can read our report here and sign our holiday lets petition here. 

If you have a story you would like to share on the podcast or want a particular topic covered in a future episode then contact Will at [email protected] to discuss your idea.