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10:56 AM, 13th October 2022, About 2 years ago 28
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Campaigners are warning that unless the government imposes an across-the-board freeze on rents and service charges in England, then private and social housing tenants will be urged to join a rent strike.
The warning comes from Social Housing Action Campaign (SHAC) which, along with other campaign groups, has written to the housing secretary Simon Clarke over the rent cap for social housing consultation – which ends this week.
The group also says that private rental sector (PRS) tenants need to be protected from ‘profiteering landlords’ and that the PRS should also see a rent freeze and a ban on evictions being imposed.
The consultation by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) is aimed at finding out whether there should be a rent increase cap of zero – or 3%, 5% or 7%.
The government says it wants to install a maximum cap of 5%.
But the 5% cap would see the income of social landlords being reduced by £1.3bn next year.
And the National Housing Federation (NHF) has warned that without extra government funding, social landlords will struggle to build new homes – and maintain the properties they do have.
They have also said that supported housing would become unviable.
However, SHAC wants the government to freeze social rents, service charges and shared ownership rents for 2023-24.
The group says that any rise will lead to homelessness and worsen poverty for tenants struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.
They also want the re-introduction of the evictions ban that was unveiled during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Social housing rent rises are capped currently by the government, and they use the Consumer Price Index (CPI) of inflation plus 1% which is set every September.
In its letter to Mr Clarke, SHAC says: “Rents for council and housing association tenants were set to rise by 11% or more in April 2023.
“A 3-7% formula rent rise will still mean deeper poverty and the risk of homelessness for many, and a further burden for four million tenant households already facing massive bills for food, energy and other necessities.”
They say the government should:
The letter was also signed by Defend Council Housing (DCH), Homes 4 All, The New Economics Foundation, and Housing Action Southwark and Lambeth.
However, it’s also worth noting that private rental sector tenants are also being considered and the letter points out:
“We recognise that these issues also affect private renters and leaseholders and are working with others of all tenures to win a rent freeze, stop evictions, protect tenants from profiteering private landlords and leaseholders from increasing service charges.
“We need Government investment in more and better homes with secure tenancies and social rents.”
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James Watkins
13:57 PM, 14th October 2022, About 2 years ago
Reply to the comment left by Judith Wordsworth at 13/10/2022 - 12:09
If all landlords banded together and did issue all tenants S21s even with no intention of following through, to get the government to be on the landlords side it would backfire massively. The result wouldn't be them bowing to pressure but would force them to shield the tenants. There would be an immediate ban on S21 evictions with all that had been issued declared void, in order to prevent another reason being used they would impose a ban on all evictions until new legislation had been installed which would include rent caps and an enforcement of all PRS landlords to apply to be on a register to be allowed to rent.
Lastly trying to force the government to take an action by threatening the welfare of citizens is by definition an act of domestic terrorism and could wind up with all PRS landlords who take part being arrested and prosecuted under the terrorism act.
Offering ultimatums never works out on this scale and would do more harm than good. Also you could face prosecution for causing undue suffering and cause some with mental health conditions to tip over the edge.
The entire action is immoral and would ultimately prove to be deemed illegal.
Paul Routledge
5:36 AM, 15th October 2022, About 2 years ago
Well I guess as we all got to eat there will be a cap on food and maybe because we all got to get around there will be a cap on fuel (far to much tax for that to happen) if they put a cap/freeze on the PRS and inflation keeps going up along with interest rates and section 24 tax finding any landlords in this country will be like finding a dodo in your back garden 🙂 🙂 idiots the lot of them ..... oh hold on!! let's see!!! The old chancellor needs a new job let's make him a new housing cap minister hahaha 🙂
Paul Routledge
5:45 AM, 15th October 2022, About 2 years ago
Reply to the comment left by Paul Routledge at 15/10/2022 - 05:36
Social Housing Action Campaign (shac) should be Social Housing Action Trust (SHAT) 🙂
Dean Jenkinson
7:17 AM, 15th October 2022, About 2 years ago
house buying is a business and the aim of business is profit or whats the point?
50% of landlords have 1 property and mortages. Not millionaires.
When mortgages increase rents have to or landlords will sell.
Another charity with a totally Uneducated waste if time report.
If tennants strike they will get bad credit and possibly CCJ's. GREAT ADVICE. It's about time these people realised accomodation isn't free and unpaid rent could mean a pensioner who owns the property goes without. Or if businesses cannot make profits from properties they don't buy them and every council and university in the country uses private properties. Less properties will only lead to massive rent increase, look at Berlin and sweden' s housing crisis.
Mick Roberts
9:19 AM, 15th October 2022, About 2 years ago
Reply to the comment left by Dean Jenkinson at 15/10/2022 - 07:17
And even if the Landlord is a Millionaire, we din't set this out to be a charity which is what many of us are ending up doing. Charging tenants £500pm when all surrounding rents are £850pm. Just cause we can afford to, don't mean we should as many of us initially started this investment out as a business, to get a return, the dreaded word profit. Without profit, there is no houses.
Does Richard Branson let us fly on his airplanes cause he's got an island? He could afford to if he wanted to. But No, it's a business. If we can't afford his planes, we get the boat.
Did Murdoch let us have Sky TV for free when he owned it? He could afford to. If we want better more channels, we paid more. Yet this Govt thinks we can keep giving more, doing more, but receiving less.
Why should we charge cheap when we can receive more in other investments or from other tenants? But we are charging cheap & they want to shoot us down further. Which exacerbates their problems even further reducing supply, so the next non charitable Landlord thinks Ooh Baby the demand I'm getting-I'm charging more. Unintended consequences of all these bafoons-They are creating the lack of supply problem.
Thank u for mentioning Berlin. For those that don't know, they did rent cap & they apparently now really struggling for accommodation.
KD South East
17:11 PM, 15th October 2022, About 2 years ago
The government froze social housing rents from 2015 - 2019 and even reduced them by 1% a year. Presumably to save money on the Housing Benefit budget.
This didn't help tenants very much, just squeezed staffing and performance, and certainly didn't help with building any more social housing.
Just because social landlords can increase rent by CPI plus 1% it doesn't mean that they will. Historically increases have been of a few £'s a week, around 3%.
11% on £450 a month is quite different to 11% on £1300-1800 (the comparative costs of a 3 bedroom social and private rented house where I live in the South East).
It always annoys me when % figures are used because the most benefit goes to the highest level and least to the bottom level - Widening the gap even more as time passes.
SHAC suggesting to social housing tenants that they should have a rent strike is ludicrous, and just increases bad feeling towards all landlords, and tgey are not to blame
The rise in the cost of living is being driven by fuel, oil and gas prices.
Delinking electricity prices from gas prices would be the first step, and ending the ridiculous practice of setting the rate at the highest price for gas must also be scrapped. Continual rising of interest rates is not going to do anything except cause misery and faster inflation.
JamesB
11:40 AM, 21st October 2022, About 2 years ago
Reply to the comment left by James Watkins at 14/10/2022 - 13:57
"Lastly trying to force the government to take an action by threatening the welfare of citizens is by definition an act of domestic terrorism and could wind up with all PRS landlords who take part being arrested and prosecuted under the terrorism act."
Well I guess using your logic, landlords don't count as citizens then, given that these groups are threatening our welfare by calling for a rent strike?
Windsor Woman
13:31 PM, 21st October 2022, About 2 years ago
Reply to the comment left by KD South East at 15/10/2022 - 17:11
Agreed.
The problem with the housing budget isn't just about the particular benefit level for any items such as housing - its as much about the numbers of people claiming, and hence the aggregate £m being paid out. The numbers of people claiming isn't going to reduce any time soon.