Troubled campaign group renews call for rent controls

Generation Rent - the campaign group that needs £60,000 to continue operating beyond the end of August - has renewed its call for controls over private sector rents.

The group, which is now struggling to operate following the withdrawal of funds by a charitable offshoot of the Nationwide, says new figures released by the Department for Communities and Local Government show that families with children - once regarded as only likely to be homeowners - are now increasing found to be privately renting.

“In the last year for which there are figures [2013] the number of households comprising of couples with dependent children increased by 201,000 (up from 17.7 per cent to 21.3 per cent of the total). This shows that the private rented sector is housing hundreds of thousands of more families – yet these households can be evicted with only two months’ notice, with all the potential problems such instability can cause for a child’s education, health and wellbeing” claims the campaign group.

It says there are now 1.5m families living in the private rented sector and adds: “While the number of private renters in their 20s and 30s has stabilised, there are many more people who would traditionally be in homeownership in previous decades. In the same period, there are 150,000 more households where the main householder is aged 45 to 54 (up from 12.9 per cent to 15.1 per cent) and 35,000 more households where that person is aged 54 to 65 (up from 6.6 per cent to 6.8 per cent).”

The group also claims the number of six-or-more-person households in the private rental sector is up from 1.8 per cent to 2.5 per cent, and the number of four-person households is up from 11.6 per cent to 15.8 per cent. 

“Given the continued rising rents across the country, it is unsurprising that individuals are sharing in larger numbers to reduce costs” Generation Rent claims.