According to Nick Millican, Londoners have gone through a lot in the last year when it comes to the rental market. Many have struggled to pay their ever-increasing rental costs, and approximately 20% of renters have faced eviction notices due to their inability to pay the skyrocketing rental rates that landlords are demanding.
It’s estimated approximately 60% of rental units have raised their rents at least once in the last year, Nick Millican informs. Many landlords have tried to use the no-fault Section 21 evictions to force raises in rent without having to wait for formalities to go through in order to actually enforce the raised rent on their tenants.
Section 21 is intended, in this case, to push residents into accepting the rent raises, whether they can afford to pay the extra money or not. Generation Rent is one of the organizations calling for the council to address this issue, and to protect tenants from endless rent raises that many of them cannot afford. Nick Millican informs that it’s about protecting the individual renter’s rights.
This could be protected if the Renters Reformation Bill were to be passed. There would then be local housing allowances and market rents. Nick Millican informs that this could help increase the number of homes being built so that rents were more controlled and easier to come by for those looking for housing in the future.
Nick Millican finally talks about this concern. This would lessen the competition for housing, and it would help people rest easier at night knowing that there are affordable rents and move into when they need to find somewhere to live rather than facing an uncertain future of where they might even go to live if they can’t afford their current residence.