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Generation Rent says Labour rent reforms not enough
While much of the lettings industry protests against Labour proposals for rent controls and three year tenancies, an influential pressure group says the reforms do not go far enough.
Generation Rent, led by Alex Hilton, says Labour’s proposal to cap rent rises at inflation for the first three years of a tenancy “doesn’t give you the ability to plan your finances – because you don’t know what the inflation rates will be over the next three years.”
Hilton, writing on the group’s website, says that Labour’s rent caps won’t actually keep rents down. “This is because they have no plans to limit rent rises between tenancies – or indeed after your first three years are up” says Hilton.
He also accuses Labour of “planning to introduce new ways for landlords to evict you” by allowing landlords to sell during that period – although Hilton does not explain how legislation could be framed to ban owners selling when they wished.
Generation Rent, as we reported last week, has walked out of an all-party group calling for more homes and now opposes the party which has made rental sector reform a major plank of its election pledges.
This is despite the fact that another Labour policy, the creation of a national landlord register, appears very similar to one advocated by Generation Rent. The pressure group says its register would involve a levy of £3 on every tenancy.
