'We are sick and tired': Hundreds of renters demand 'rent controls now' in Christmas protest

Renters have demanded rent controls are introduced in London in a protest on the English capital’s biggest shopping street ahead of Christmas.

Around 500 tenants from London Renters Union rubbed shoulders with Christmas shoppers as they marched down on Oxford Street on Saturday (14 December) and piled up cardboard boxes to show their displeasure at London’s spiralling rents.

Private rents are at a record-high across the country but London’s rental market remains particularly pricey. Rents are increasing faster than anywhere else in the UK – up 10.4% in the year up to October according to Office for National Statistics – with an average rent of £2,172 per month.

Protesters called for the introduction of rent controls to prevent rents from rising further. While the Scottish government is planning to introduce rent controls as part of its Housing Bill, Sadiq Khan’s pleas to the Westminster government to cap rents in the English capital have so far been denied.

Elyem Chej, a spokesperson for the London Renters Union, said: “We are sick and tired of seeing our city carved up by the rich and powerful. It is disgraceful that ordinary people have to uproot their lives because a landlord or a developer thinks they can get more money. Home is the centre of our lives and our communities.

“Something so foundational to our city cannot be left to unaccountable landlords seeking ever higher profits. Rent control can take the pressure off renters right now while we continue to push for the public homes we need and deserve. We will continue to grow the power of our movement and fight until we win affordable homes for all.”

Renters picked one of the biggest shopping busy days of the year to voice their anger at a private rental system that has increasingly left tenants struggling to keep up.

As well as facing rents that are rising faster than wages and wider inflation, the wait for Labour’s Renters’ Rights Bill goes on.

That legislation is expected to be in force next summer, finally delivering the promise to scrap section 21 no-fault evictions and give renters more security.

But critics of the bill say it does not go far enough to address the affordability of the private rented sector.

That’s why protesters urged ministers to introduce rent controls to cap rents instead. They argued rent controls could make rents affordable over time if coupled with a renewed effort to build social housing, as Labour has pledged.

One of the protesters, Batool Desouky, said he and his housemates are being forced out of of their home of the last four years due to the landlord looking to sell their property.

Last week the National Residential Landlord Association warned the number of households in the private rented sector at risk of homelessness due to landlords selling up has increased by a third since the end of last year.

“Now, I’m desperately searching for somewhere new, but everything I find is either run-down, far too expensive or a risky sublet that doesn’t feel secure,” said Desouky. 

“I’m worried I’ll be forced to move even further out, away from my community, with a longer, more costly commute. It feels so unfair that finding a safe, affordable place to live in the city where I work has become this hard.”

The previous Conservative government was against the introduction of rent controls, citing fears that their introduction would lead to declining quality in the sector.

Labour has, so far, shown little appetite to introduce rent controls, instead planning to deliver more social housing to bring down demand for private rented properties and reduce rents.

But it remains to be seen whether Labour’s English devolution white paper, revealed on Monday (16 December), gives the London mayor more power to introduce rent controls. Mayors will be handed new powers to intervene in infrastructure and development projects across housing, transport and skills under the ‘devolution by default’ deal.

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. This Christmas, you can make a lasting change on a vendor’s life. Buy a magazine from your local vendor in the street every week. If you can’t reach them, buy a Vendor Support Kit.