Tenant group claims soaring rents leave renters paying the price

A tenant group claims rents have rocketed by 1,200% since the 1988 Housing Act, with its analysis showing a ten-item supermarket shop would cost more than five times today’s price if food costs had risen at the same rate.

Figures from Generation Rent’s ‘cost of renting receipt’ show the average monthly rent in England has rocketed to £1,442, around 13 times higher than in 1988.

If everyday groceries had followed the same path as private rents, a standard ten-item shop would now set shoppers back £117.13, compared with just £22.67 today and £9.01 in 1988.

High rents are backbreaking for renters

According to the data, a pack of 12 eggs would cost £12.31 if the cost had risen at the same rate as private rents since 1988, compared to £3.31 now.

Or a 500g pack of cheddar cheese would cost £19.50 compared to £4.31, while a whole chicken would cost £23.79.

Holly Williamson, chief executive of Generation Rent, said: “Homes are the foundations of our lives. We wouldn’t accept paying such extortionate prices for our food shop, so why do we accept it when it comes to our homes? High rents are backbreaking for renters across the country. It can mean children going to school hungry, families trapped living in temporary accommodation for years, or older renters choosing between heating or eating.

“The cost of renting is like a runaway train with no driver, leaving too many renters as passengers with no control over our lives. With another spike in inflation looming, Andy Burnham’s government can and must act urgently, by bringing in a limit on how much landlords can hike our rents.”

Trapped in a cycle of high rents

Darren Baxter, principal policy adviser at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “Unaffordable private rents aren’t a given. They’re a symptom of a housing system that has let private profit come before decent, affordable homes, with successive governments failing to tackle the problem. Trapped in a cycle of high rents, financial strain and no ability to save, renters are often just one redundancy or illness away from a crisis.

“We need this government to ease the pressure on private renters by introducing rent controls. This would put money back into renters’ pockets so they can start to rebuild their financial safety net and weather life’s challenges.”

According to Generation Rent, private renters in England spend over 36% of their income on rent, with this figure rising to well above 40% in many major cities.

The tenant group is calling on the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham to introduce rent controls to help renters during the cost-of-living crisis.