Today Ed Miliband will pledge a fairer deal for renters as home ownership remains at its lowest level for 30 years
Today Ed Miliband and Emma Reynolds will set out what action a Labour government will take to help ‘Generation Rent’. There are now nine million people renting homes, many of whom are young people or families just starting out.
The housing shortage is making it impossible for young people to afford homes – the average house price is eight times higher than the average wage. During this government we have also seen the lowest levels of housebuilding in peacetime since the 1920s. House of Commons analysis shows that on current trends, the average deposit of a home in the UK will be £72,000 by 2020 – it is little wonder that home ownership is at its lowest level for thirty years.
Today the Labour leader and the shadow minister for Housing will reveal how ‘Generation Rent’ will be better off by an average of £624 each under a Labour government. They will pledge to ban rip-off letting agent fees, legislate for three year tenancies to give renters security and peace of mind, and end excessive rent rises by putting a cap on rent increases during the new three-year tenancies.
Ed Miliband is expected to say:
“The amount needed for a deposit on a home has risen beyond the reach of millions of young people and families starting out.
“As well as building more houses and helping people get on the property ladder, a Labour government will take action immediately to make life better for all those renting their home.
“Moving house is an expensive time anyway and there is no reason why Generation Rent should be ripped by rules which don’t apply to property owners.
“The first Queen’s Speech of the next Labour government will set out legislation to ban letting agent fees charged to tenants. It will save Generation Rent £2.5 billion over the next parliament. And it will save the typical renter £624.”
Meanwhile Ms Reynolds will visit Hampstead & Kilburn, calling on young voters to make their voices heard in the election. She will be kicking off a national campaign to visit seats with high levels of private renters to highlight Labour’s policies.
Ms Reynolds is expected to say today:
“Renters have to work two days a week – the equivalent of working every day until the 28th May this year – before they pay the rent. But in return they get no stability, poor standards and they have to pay hundreds of pounds in rip-off letting agent fees.
“We are also committed to tackling the root causes of this crisis by getting at least 200,000 homes built a year by 2020.
“From now until the General Election I will be in key seats talking to voters about our plans for housing. And as part of voter registration week, I will be encouraging private renters, who are one of the most under-registered groups, to get registered so that their voice can be heard in May.
“Generation rent deserves a fairer deal. Only a Labour government is set on delivering it.”
To reach hundreds of thousands of new readers and to make the biggest impact we can in the next general election, we need to grow our donor base substantially.
That's why in 2024, we are seeking to generate 150 additional regular donors to support Left Foot Forward's work.
We still need another 124 people to donate to hit the target. You can help. Donate today.
42 Responses to “Generation Rent will be £2.5 billion better off under a Labour government”
LB
What have you done with their pension contributions?
Spent them, leaving no assets but massive debts.
Socialism. Screwing people over and hiding the evidence.
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171766_263808.pdf
In summary, the estimates in the new supplementary table indicate a total Government pension
obligation, at the end of December 2010, of £5.01 trillion, or 342 per cent of GDP
That’s Labour fucking over the poor, as usual.
TN
Yeah this doesn’t read like a partisan press release…
Rich
Good – as long as they mean it!
Letting agents charging tenants fees makes no sense at all. The landlord is the letting agent’s customer, not the tenant. Why should a tenant pay for a credit check etc., when it’s being done on behalf of the landlord? Why does a letting agent need to charge a tenant (or indeed a landlord) to make a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy of a tenancy agreement every 12 months?
Furthermore, good landlords who manage to bag a good tenant would surely love 3 year tenancies; they’re essentially securing a customer for a long contract, which is good in any business. The only ones who’ll lose out are the letting agents, who want turnover, and the cowboy landlords that think nothing of selling out from under their tenants.
I don’t want good landlords to be punished, or bad tenants to be overly protected, but these are all good policies.
How Bloggs
The best thing that Labour could do, if obtaining govt., is do something to stem the ceaseless tide of immigrants to this country. ( 4,000 a day, at last stat count)
All of them have to be housed, which makes house hunting even more difficult for those who were born & raised here.
Inevitably, whenever anyone states this, the cries of “racist” fill the air, as per the usual lefty way.
I say, use your common sense before shouting that.
Guest
Keep blaming everyone else for your calls for mass-fucking, your demand that pensions not be paid, not be “spent”, as you whine about “hiding” because you can’t read basic figures, and once more you point out how little the UK owes for pensions because ours are so bad.