Three out of five private renters in the UK, or 60%, were asked to pay higher rent in the past year, according to Generation Rent’s latest survey.
The number of tenants who state that their landlords have passed on rising interest rates has tripled since the last survey in November 2021, from 4% to 12%.
Additionally, evictions are on the rise, with 20% of private renters being told to move out in the past 12 months, a significant increase from 14% in November.
The most common reason cited for rent increases is rising market rents (17%), though other factors such as the cost of living and inflation have also contributed.
Notably, one-third of those who faced a rent rise were asked to pay more than £100 more per month, up from 12% in November. Of those facing such steep increases, 66% are now paying them, while 15% negotiated it down, and 10% have moved out as a result.
Generation Rent, an advocacy group for tenants’ rights, is urging the Government to take immediate action, including abolishing Section 21 evictions and making it easier to challenge rent rises through the Renters Reform Bill.
The group also calls for Government measures to encourage landlords to sell with sitting tenants, to relink Local Housing Allowance with market rents, and to build more homes in desired locations.
The survey further reveals that the current rental market crisis is characterised by mass viewings, up from 9% five years ago to 39% in the past year. Tenants being drawn into bidding wars has also dramatically risen, experienced by 21% of flat hunters, compared to 3% before 2018.
Generation Rent’s analysis of UK Finance and Bank of England figures estimates that 14% of private tenancies are vulnerable to unsustainable increases in mortgage rates, equating to around 800,000 households. However, it concludes that interest rates are less of a factor in setting rents than broader market forces.
Ben Twomey, chief executive of Generation Rent, said: “A cost of renting crisis is forcing tenants to bear the worst of the economic turmoil right now. While many mortgage holders have yet to see their monthly payments increase, most private renters have already faced a rent hike this past year.”
Twomey further called on the Government to put tenants first by preventing unaffordable rent increases, protecting tenants in their homes if landlords need to sell, and raising housing support to cover actual rent costs. He also stressed the need for “a massive programme of building, particularly of social housing” to meet demand.
The findings are based on a survey conducted by Generation Rent, including responses from 1021 supporters who rent from private landlords, collected online in June and July of this year.
