Campaign group urges government to amend RRA and expand BtR

A campaign group claims the Renters’ Rights Act should be amended and the government should rule out rent controls.

A report by Prosper UK on solving the housing crisis claims that a failure to maintain and expand the private rented sector risks worsening affordability.

The group also claims the Build to Rent sector should be expanded to increase the supply of rental properties.

Renters’ Rights Act should be amended

Prosper UK explains that the private rented sector has suffered from a lack of investor confidence and argues that Build to Rent should be established as a core housing tenure.

The report describes the sector as offering the “most scalable route to increasing supply, because small landlords usually own older buildings which would otherwise be in the market for sale.”

The campaign group also argues the Renters’ Rights Act should be amended to help boost housing supply.

The report says: “The Renters’ Rights Act should not be abolished, but it should be amended.

“The rent review period should be extended from one year to two. Where a tenant appeals a rent increase to the First- tier Tribunal and the appeal is unsuccessful, the increase should be backdated to the date it would otherwise have taken effect, removing the present incentive to appeal merely to defer payment.

“And the tribunal’s jurisdiction should be defined with sufficient precision that it determines an open market rent rather than becoming, in substance, a rent-setting body.

“There is a difficulty with any indexation formula, which is that a cap tends to become a floor as well as a ceiling, because the market works to the cap. This requires changing the approach, and it is a further reason for the central proposition of this report, which is that the only durable route to lower rents is a larger supply of homes.”

Rule out rent controls

The report adds rent controls in Scotland have damaged investor confidence and the government must rule out rent controls in England.

The report said: “The government should address concerns about rent controls. This is a classic populist policy: on the face of it, it is an attractive solution because it appears to make rents more affordable. Yet, there is now clear evidence that it does not do so.”

As previously reported by Property118,  rent controls do more harm than good and actually do far more damage than benefit tenants.

According to the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), while rent controls may initially lower rents for existing tenants, they typically lead to higher rents in uncontrolled sectors and reduce housing supply and quality.

In Scotland, the rent cap has been blamed for soaring rents, which have increased by 11.6%.

Reforms for housing developments

The campaign group also calls for reforms to improve the viability of housing developments.

These include reinstating Multiple Dwellings Relief from Stamp Duty Land Tax, a tax relief previously available when purchasing multiple residential properties in one transaction, which was abolished in 2024.

It also proposes returning the Additional Homes Surcharge to 3% for Build to Rent developments to reduce the tax costs faced by investors.

The group further recommends extending empty business rates relief from three months to twelve months for all Build to Rent schemes liable for National Non-Domestic Rates, reducing the costs developers face while properties remain empty before occupation.