Half of tenants have been asked to pay higher rent, says Generation Rent

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Generation Rent has urged the government to impose a rent freeze as it reports that nearly half of private renters faced a rent increase in the last year.

Its poll of 1,074 tenants reveals that nearly half who had lived in their home for longer than a year (45%) have been asked to pay a higher rent. Of those, 81% paid what their landlord asked for, with just 14% able to negotiate a lower rent.

One in five renters (20%) experiencing a rent increase during their current tenancy were asked to pay more than £100 extra per month. Just over half of them paid it (54%), while 28% negotiated a smaller increase and 13% had to move out.

Benefits

It says tenants on benefits are more likely to have been handed an increase in rent, despite Local Housing Allowance being frozen since March 2020; 46% have been asked to pay more compared with 43% of private renters not receiving benefits.

When asked by the pressure group how they would cope with the cost of living crisis, the most common answer among private renters not getting benefits is using their savings (35%) while for private renters getting benefits, 39% answered “don’t know”.

Director Baroness Alicia Kennedy (main picture) says: “Renters are terrified, knowing they face a winter of destitution. Ultimately that will lead to a further rise in evictions and homelessness.

“The government must intervene and temporarily stop landlords from raising the rent, as well as pausing evictions to keep renters in their homes.”

Market rents increased by 11.8% between Q2 2021 and Q2 2022 in the UK, according to Rightmove.

Read more: How to legally increase your rent.

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