Labour’s Renters’ Rights Bill is a step forward – but there’s a glaring gap on the affordability crisis

In his speech to open the report stage of the Renters’ Rights Bill, housing minister Matthew Pennycook made a potentially telling and encouraging statement. “This government promised to succeed where its predecessor had failed,” he said, “quickly and decisively acting to transform the experience of private renting in England. Today I am pleased to set out further tangible progress to deliver on that commitment.”

It’s vitally important for campaigners to make sure they celebrate the wins. Too often the seemingly never-ending pursuit of change blinds us to the progress we’ve already achieved.

Talk to anyone who has been campaigning for renters’ rights over the last decade and they will tell you there was a time they were being laughed out of rooms when calling for the end of section 21. Now MPs have voted through its demise (444 ayes to 111 noes) and it’s all but certain it will be gone by the summer as per the government’s timeline. Add in doubling notice periods to four months under the new fault grounds, limiting rent in advance to one month’s worth, banning rental bidding wars and introducing a new landlord database and it’s clear to see the Renters’ Rights Bill will improve the lives of renters across England.

• Government rejects MPs’ bid to cap record-high rents as Renters’ Rights Bill passes through Commons
• Renters’ Rights Bill must stop landlords raising rents above wages or inflation, government told
• Renters pay their landlords’ buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

But, as Pennycook said, the bill represents “tangible progress” towards transforming the experience of private renters, not the finish line itself.

With this in mind, the glaring gap in the bill is without question the lack of measures to slam the brakes on soaring rents. The latest ONS statistics show average private rents in England increased by 9.2% in the 12 months to December 2024, far outstripping wage growth. Meanwhile, research by the housing charity Shelter found nearly two-thirds of workers living in private rented housing in England struggle to pay their rent.

That’s why it was disappointing that Labour MP Paula Barker’s amendment to cap in tenancy rent rises to the consumer price index level of inflation or wage growth, whatever is lower, was not taken forward by the government. As Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy said during Tuesday’s (14 January) debate: “I’m yet to see a compelling reason why landlords should see their incomes grow faster than people who actually work for a living.”

In the past the government has pointed to its affordable house-building programme as a solution to the cost of renting crisis. But as the co-leader of the Greens Carla Denyer said: “The private rented sector is in an affordability crisis now and, with the best will in the world, it will take huge amounts of time to increase social housing supply at a scale that will impact private rents.”

This amendment was particularly pertinent in the context of ending section 21 evictions. Many MPs from a range of parties made the point that, without measures to cap in-tenancy rent rises, some landlords will use unaffordable rent hikes as a section 21 eviction in all but name. Tenants can take their landlord to a tribunal if they think a rent hike is unfair, but many don’t have the time, resources or knowledge to do this. Moreover, rather than considering what the tenant can afford, the tribunal uses rents on new tenancies as its benchmark, which often rise more rapidly than wages, particularly in recent years.

Pennycook recognised this issue, agreeing that “once section 21 evictions are done away with, unscrupulous landlords will no doubt attempt to evict tenants who assert their rights by means of extortionate rent rises”. But his ultimate conclusion showed no change to the government line that “the introduction of rent controls in the private rented sector could harm tenants as well as landlords by reducing supply and discouraging investment”.

Elsewhere, Generation Rent worked with MPs to table amendments focused on extending the reach of rent repayment orders and improving protections for renters on low incomes when their landlords receive grants to improve the energy efficiency of their home. While neither of these were added into the bill, it was good to see a large number of MPs provide their support for each and we will now turn our attention to the Lords to keep these issues on the political agenda.

Overall, it was great to hear so many MPs praise the campaigning of organisations like Generation Rent, the Renters’ Reform Coalition, Shelter and Acorn among others in our work to make sure the needs of renters are heard loud and clear in parliament. It is testament to this relentless campaigning that, as Labour MP Naushabah Khan said, we’re witnessing “the end of an era of unchecked power for landlords”.

It’s also clear that there is a growing swell of support for caps on rents from a large number of MPs within Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens, which we can harness as we turn our attention to what comes next.

As Paula Barker said: “We have to come back to this issue. That may not happen tomorrow or next month, but inevitably at some point we will have to, because the private rented sector has lost all sense of proportion, and on that, nothing will change. The problem of affordability will continue to get worse.”

We will make sure to celebrate this milestone which marks the end of renters being turfed out of our homes on a whim, but we know the finish line is still a long way off.

Nye Jones is head of campaigns at Generation Rent.

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. Big Issue exists to give homeless and marginalised people the opportunity to earn an income. To support our work buy a copy of the magazine or get the app from the App Store or Google Play.