City mayors call for rent freeze and eviction ban for England’s tenants

theguardian.com:

An immediate rent freeze and a ban on evictions should be introduced in England to help renters deal with the cost of living crisis, the mayors of three of the biggest cities have said.

It would bring the country into line with Scotland, where tenants have been protected under emergency measures designed to curb a “humanitarian emergency” announced by Nicola Sturgeon last September.

“Rising costs of food and energy mean millions are struggling to make ends meet,” the campaigners wrote in an open letter to the levelling up secretary, Michael Gove, on Wednesday, saying renters were “among the worst affected by the cost of living crisis”.

“A rent freeze would immediately relieve pressure on millions of people and halt an eviction crisis that would have a devastating social impact, and cost local councils and the government millions,” they added.

Signatories to the letter, coordinated by the London Renters Union, included Andy Burnham, the mayor of Manchester, and his counterparts in Liverpool and London, Steve Rotheram and Sadiq Khan. They were joined by the co-leaders of the Green party and several trade union leaders, among others.

They highlighted official figures showing that private renters across the UK spent four or five times more on housing costs than owners in the financial year ending 2021, as well as a survey conducted last year by the campaign group Generation Rent which suggested only 11% of landlords who had raised rates cited their own rising mortgage costs as a motivation.

Research released by the homelessness charity Shelter in September 2022 – at around the same time Scotland’s first minister announced a rent freeze and eviction ban – suggested more than 1 million private renters in England, or roughly one in