0:05 AM, 23rd June 2023, About 2 years ago 33
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London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan has called for an immediate two-year rent freeze AND a ban on section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions in London to help 160,000 Londoners who are behind on their rent.
His call comes as a survey from City Hall reveals that 30% of private renters in the capital are struggling financially – and 24% of tenants are struggling to pay their rent.
The survey found that 6% of renters have fallen behind in rent over the past six months.
The Greater London Authority says there are 2.7m Londoners in the private rented sector – so Mr Khan says that means 650,000 are struggling with their rent and 160,000 have fallen behind with payments.
One of the problems, Mr Khan says, is that the average rent in the capital is now £2,500 per month.
As a result, the Mayor has repeated his call on the Government to urgently introduce a two-year rent freeze in London to ease the burden on renters as the cost-of-living crisis worsens.
He also wants section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions to be banned ‘without delay’.
Mr Khan said: “With astronomical rents, bills and the cost of household essentials rising, many London renters are only just about managing – and the situation is getting worse.
“More and more people are now at risk of being evicted.
“That’s why it has never been more urgent for the Government to implement an immediate two-year rent freeze in the capital and give me the power to introduce a system of rent controls that works for London.”
Mr Khan continued: “While the publication of the Government’s long-overdue Renters’ Reform Bill is a positive step forward, my message to ministers is that they must also take action now to make rents more affordable as a matter of urgency.
“As we work to build a better, fairer London for everyone, I’ll continue to stand up for renters in our city and do all I can to help them pay their rent and keep their homes.”
The Mayor also points to May’s Homelet rental data index which reveals that new tenancies in London cost a tenant 36% on average of their household income on rent – that’s 5% higher than the national average.
Also, the average new tenancy rent has rocketed since the pandemic with Rightmove data revealing that the average advertised rent in the capital reached £2,501 a month in March.
He says this is ‘unsustainable’ and leaves tenants unable to afford rent and losing their home.
A City Hall analysis say there were 3,630 households facing homelessness in London last year after receiving a Section 21 ‘no-fault’ eviction notice.
Mr Khan is also calling for social and council rented housing, more first-time buyer homes, London’s high renting costs to be reflected in the welfare system and a ‘fundamental reform’ of the PRS to provide secure and safe homes.
The director of Generation Rent, Ben Twomey, said: “If London can’t provide homes for the people who want to live here, that’s a disaster not only for the city, but the country as a whole.
“People are being forced to move away from their families, others cannot take up job offers, and more of us are compromising by accepting overcrowded accommodation just to have a bed that lets us live here.”
He added: “Renters in London are at a very high risk of being evicted so landlords can sell or put the rent up.
“The Renters’ Reform Bill could make a huge difference to their security of tenure, but it needs to ensure bad landlords can’t continue exploiting tenants and include better protections for tenants who face eviction for reasons beyond their control.”
A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesperson said: “We recognise people are facing pressures in the private rented sector, which is why we introduced the Renters’ Reform Bill in May, delivering a fairer deal for renters and empowering them to challenge unjustified rent increases and banning Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions.
“Evidence shows that rent controls in the private sector do not work, as they lead to declining standards, a lack of investment and may encourage illegal subletting.”
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Joseph Pay
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Sign Up17:33 PM, 24th June 2023, About 2 years ago
Rent freezes are not a solution to the problem it is just moving the issue up the ladder.
If the people in power actually understood the PRS, they would actual understand that all the meddling the government are doing is the cause of the increase in rent. But clearly they don't care about that side of it.
Nee Gill
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Sign Up19:52 PM, 24th June 2023, About 2 years ago
Does this guy live in same world as us?
He has no consideration for the PRS
With rising interest rates many landlords will struggle to pay the mortgage
He wants to penalise good landlords.
This will not help either the landlords or the tenants
JeggNegg
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Sign Up0:20 AM, 26th June 2023, About 2 years ago
i am so confused with this constant idea that tenants are struggling and having a rent freeze is going to help them, i assume long term.
we are all struggling with uk inflation, and as i understand it raising interest rates is one way to try and curb spending. so if we don't raise rents we will certainly have less income and this might contribute to easing inflation. but tenants are also included in the pain and therefore its not LL's fault we need to charge more. my other concern when my mortgage is un for renewal. i was reminded only last week we LL's need to keep om top of higher rent as there might be a risk that mortgage lenders will change the affordability calculations, which might mean LLs may have problems in rolling mortgages over as the rent will not not be sufficient to meet their harder affprdability requirements.
what will that mean for LL's? i assume even more leaving the rental sector. so few houses for same or more tenants. which i guess will push rents even faster due to supply and demand. so wheres the gain for tenants.
please Mr Khan i think you will need a much better idea to get all these tenants to vote for you to be reelected, Mayor of London, because i this there is a risk you could push prices up faster.
Sheridan Vickers
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Sign Up23:47 PM, 27th June 2023, About 2 years ago
I want to rant a bit more on this stupidness. There's no way I'll be taking on tenants on benefits as my current tenant is in £1,980 arrears and is on Universal Credit. They know he's not paying his rent and they allow him to be in total control of what I'm given. It's all a game and a waste of time because this month I only received £231 in rent (supposed to be £800 a month (very cheap for London) with no explanation from them as to why. The reason why is because it states on the very first email I got from UC, that I may get less if the tenant earns more or earns too little or get nothing at all. If the Govt think that this is acceptable and want to bully us LLs into accepting tenants who brazenly break the law but are also at the same time encouraging tenants to break the law, then they need to either foot the bill for these rogue tenants or shut up and let us decide who we take on. I feel we're being discriminated against but it's not okay for us to have a say or be treat reasonably. If UC are not willing to pay my tenant's rent, then they are actively making him homeless along with himself because how can UC and my tenant think it's okay for him to live there rent free and are aware he's behind with his rent, but do not feel it's necessary to penalise him for taking their money and not paying the rent with it? I'm not a charity, Shelter is supposedly meant to be but looks like they've forgotten their role. The councils are shocking along with all the rest who have done their best to ruin a healthy market. The biggest problem is, I can't even serve notice on him to get him out because I can't get into MY FLAT WHICH I OWN because he's changed the locks and is just ignoring all requests for me to do checks and get smoke alarms etc. Yeah, and he's allowed to do all this. The law is a farce. I'll have to go through the damned council and ask for their help (it's just so ridiculous). I swear I'm going to get bad mental illness from this dilemma. I can't even afford to take the despicable tenant to court.
PH
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Sign Up7:22 AM, 28th June 2023, About 2 years ago
I think the old days are not far away when it will be a case of' sending the 'boys' round ' to vacate the property . What goes around comes around !
Ron H-W
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Sign Up16:38 PM, 28th June 2023, About 2 years ago
Reply to the comment left by Sheridan Vickers at 27/06/2023 - 23:47
Sheridan - a notice does not require to be served personally - you should be able to mail it (WITH "proof of delivery"), or even deliver it to or post it on the exterior of the property (with witness and/or timestamped photo etc.)
Have a careful read of href="https://blog.openrent.co.uk/how-to-serve-notice-to-tenants/
and https://www.nrla.org.uk/resources/ending-your-tenancy/how-to-serve-a-notice
Don't forget that if you have somebody else do it for you, THEY will need to fill form N215 for you - it is worth looking at that form in any case, via
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/form-n215-certificate-of-service
Sheridan Vickers
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Sign Up20:06 PM, 28th June 2023, About 2 years ago
Reply to the comment left by Ron H-W at 28/06/2023 - 16:38
Thanks Ron. The problem is I have no up-to-date gas certificate or electrical safety cert to serve with a notice but I could write a letter using the template someone kindly posted on here so may do that in the first instance and see what happens from there
Sheridan Vickers
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Sign Up15:27 PM, 30th June 2023, About A year ago
I can't believe what the citizens advice are advising tenants
"If you withhold rent your landlord may start possession proceedings against you and put you at risk of eviction. Even though withholding rent is not recommended, if you decide that you want to do it anyway, then you should keep the money in a separate bank account."
Talk about stab us in the back at every angle.
Ron H-W
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Sign Up17:40 PM, 30th June 2023, About A year ago
Reply to the comment left by Sheridan Vickers at 30/06/2023 - 15:27
Sheridan - You and I seem to have different interpretations of that quote:
1. They warn that withholding rent puts tenant at risk of eviction.
2. They don't recommend withholding rent.
3. They carry on to say that if tenant decides to go against this advice, then tenant should keep the money in a separate bank account.
4. Think about why! If separate, then it should be possible to hand it over to the landlord, whereas if not kept separate then it might simply get spent and not be available.
Sorry, I'm unable to see how this quoted part can be regarded as a "stab in the back" ... or maybe the real problem is with adjacent bit/s which you haven't quoted?
Reluctant Landlord
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Sign Up18:19 PM, 30th June 2023, About A year ago
Reply to the comment left by PH at 28/06/2023 - 07:22
especially if you factor in the changes of the tenant taking it further? Most of them try their luck and sometimes you have to square up to it.... and the legal route is simply constipated.