Tory MP Robert Jenrick says mass migration to blame for rising rents. Here’s what he’s not telling you
The former housing secretary’s video said ‘nobody is talking about’ how migration is driving up rents as he claimed the issue is solely responsible for adding more than £100 a month to monthly bills across England. But there’s more to it
Former housing secretary Robert Jenrick’s latest social media video is blaming mass migration for record-high rents. Image: Robert Jenrick / X
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Fresh from confronting fare dodgers on the tube, Robert Jenrick’s latest social media video is taking aim at mass migration and its role in record-high rents in London and across England.
The Conservative MP was trending on X on Friday (27 June) after posting the clip in which he summarised a new report published by right-leaning think tank Onward.
The report aims to model the impact of immigration on the private rented sector in England.
Both Jenrick and Onward argue that the increased demand on the rental market due to immigration is leaving renters in London to pay an estimated £216 a month while across England the equivalent figure is £132 a month.
Londoners are paying an estimated £216 extra a month in rent because of immigration levels since 2001.
Is the Tory MP right? Big Issue looked into the claims.
It is disingenuous to claim migration is the only reason rents are rising
“Let me tell you something about the housing crisis that nobody ever talks about,” said Jenrick to kick off the video as he leaned into the claim that mass migration is driving higher rents.
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Migration has undoubtedly caused increased demand for private rented housing but it is far from the only factor.
It is also far from a factor that isn’t talked about when it comes to renting.
But don’t just take our word for it.
Earlier this month, no less, Zoopla’s market rental report said that a reduction in migration has played a role in a fall in the rate that new lets are rising in price.
Net migration was 431,000 people in 2024, down from the high of 906,000 people recorded in 2023, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Zoopla reported that “lower levels of migration for work and study is one factor” for the fall, which saw rents rise by 2.8% in the year up to April 2025 after surging 6.4% over the previous year.
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The third paragraph of the Onward report that Jenrick is championing even says: “Onward’s model shows that net migration combined with an inelastic housing supply is driving higher rents”.
There is no mention of that failure to build enough homes in Jenrick’s video. That’s quite the oversight for a former housing secretary – Jenrick held the post from July 2019 and September 2021.
The truth is that there are many reasons why private rents have surged to record highs.
A failure to build enough social homes or prevent them being sold off through Right to Buy has seen the private rented sector overtake the social housing sector to become the second largest tenure in England after owner occupiers.
That has meant that the private rented sector has virtually doubled in size over the last two decades since the turn of the millennium.
Many people on low incomes who would, in the past, have been living in a social home now are forced to look to the private rented sector. On the other end of the scale, many of the first-time buyers who cannot afford to buy a home due to high house prices are also forced to rent.
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Onward also says that 4.5 million net additional homes have been added in England since 2001. It adds that, under the previous Conservative government, the target was to build 300,000 new homes a year across England but annual figures from 2021 to 2024 show that only around 234,000 homes were built.
In addition to that, the affordable homes programme running between 2021 and 2026, announced in 2020 while Jenrick was housing secretary, promised 180,000 homes. But, last year, it was revealed that between 110,000 and 130,000 affordable homes would be delivered instead.
Of course, Jenrick will know this from his spell in the housing hotseat as well as his time in government as a health and immigration minister. But, unfortunately, he couldn’t find space for it in his 75-second social media clip.
The Onward analysis assumes that – if there was no net migration at all since 2001 – the percentage savings in England would be 10% per month, amounting to the £216 and £132 a month figures Jenrick references in the video.
If there was no net migration from 2014 – the year Onward said migration started to rise – there would be a 6% reduction in rents. Since 2021, cutting net migration to zero would have cut rents by 3.7%.
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However, it’s unclear whether these figures take into account other factors that could have affected rents. For example, reduced migration could have seen fewer taxpayers, impacting budgets and plans to build homes.
Another claim in the video argues that 515,000 new homes would have to have been built in 2022 just to keep up with new arrivals.
The Tories managed to build an additional one million homes across England while in power – 500,000 short of their 1.5 million target.
However, the Office for Budget Responsibility projected that 1.3 additional homes will be built across the UK over the next five years at March’s spring budget. Experts argued that could see Labour miss its target in England by up to 500,000 homes.
Ultimately, the housing crisis is the result of years of government failure to build enough homes and that should not be lost despite Jenrick’s video pinning the blame solely on foreign arrivals.
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Tilly Smith, research and engagement manager at Generation Rent, said: “There is no denying that the UK rental market has become deeply unaffordable – especially for young people. However, this crisis is the result of decades of government inaction and a system where private landlords have been allowed to drive up rents year after year. Whether you were born here or recently arrived, everyone needs a good home.
“The bottom line is, we need more homes – affordable homes and social homes, and we need rent restrictions to stop people being priced out of the market and their own communities. We cannot afford to lose focus. This country has the resources and the ability to make sure that everyone has a safe, secure place to live. And we will keep fighting until that becomes a reality.”
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