Labour accuses the Conservatives of failing to stand up to vested interests and pledges “renters will be better off with Labour”

Today [Thursday 20 June], Labour's Deputy Leader Angela Rayner and Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves will pledge that renters will be “better off” with Labour.

Outlining the action a Labour government will take to alleviate pressures on tenants in the private rented sector, Labour will crackdown on unscrupulous landlords ripping off tenants with extortionate rents and lurid living conditions.

This comes as new data shows £750m per year draining from leaky homes due to landlords failing to insulate. Labour says this money could have been injected into the economy.

Labour will today pledge swift action to protect renters, with a long-term promise to alleviate the crisis in private renting by boosting housing supply, building 1.5 million new homes over five years.

Labour will:

1. Slash fuel poverty and cut energy bills, saving the average tenant £250 per year, by requiring all landlords to meet stringent energy efficiency standards by 2030. 
2. Immediately ban no-fault evictions, so that families have the security of knowing that landlords can't kick them out for no reason.  
3. Tackle respiratory and other health problems facing renters by stamping out black mould, damp and cold with new legal protections for tenants.  
4. End rental bidding wars, so landlords can no longer pit hopeful renters against each other in a fight to see who can offer up a bigger sum. 
5. End massive upfront payments, by capping the amount of rent requested upfront, forcing renters to turn to the ‘bank of mum and dad' just to get into the rental market.   

An affordable, secure rented sector is crucial to Labour's mission of economic growth, allowing young people to save for their own home, with more money in their pockets to spend in the economy.

Our rip-off private rented sector is strangling growth, stopping young people from saving to buy a home, supporting their local high street, or moving to take up new opportunities. Businesses struggle to get the staff they need to grow, as people are priced out of local housing markets and can't find affordable places to rent in commuting distance.

Angela Rayner MP, Labour's Deputy Leader and Shadow Housing Secretary, said:

“Time and time again, the Tories have failed to stand up for renters. From endless delays to no-fault evictions, to failure to sort damp, cold and mouldy homes, the Conservatives are failing working people. 

“Labour will call time on a decade of Tory vested interest and put renters first. An affordable, secure private rented sector is vital for economic growth, allowing young people to save for a mortgage with more money in their pockets to spend in the day-to-day economy. Our plans will support good landlords but we are calling time on unscrupulous landlords strangling growth.

“Labour will take action to protect renters, with an immediate ban on no-fault evictions, an end to rental bidding wars and extended protections against damp, mould and cold. The only real way to make renting more affordable is to build more homes, that's why we have a plan to build 1.5 million homes over five years as an antidote to Britain's failing private rented sector.

“Renters will be better off with Labour.”

Ends


Notes:

• New data shows £750m per year draining from leaky homes due to landlords failing to insulate.  
• • Data: Renters would save £755m on their energy bills if their homes were upgraded to EPC C. Average saving per household rated EPC D, E, F and G (National Energy Efficiency Data Framework Consumption Data and Cornwall Insight price forecast) multiplied by number of households upgraded by 2030 (EPC D, E, F and G properties in the private rented sector in England and Wales, assuming 90% compliance). 
  • Household savings calculated with Annual Electricity and Gas Demand by EPC based on National Energy Efficiency Data Framework Consumption Data and October Price Cap forecast from Cornwall Insight forecasting. Sources: National Energy Efficiency Data Framework Consumption Data 2021 (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-energy-efficiency-data-framework-need-consumption-data-tables-2021), Cornwall Insight https://www.cornwall-insight.com/predictions-and-insights-into-the-default-tariff-cap/ 
  • Total number of Private Rented Sector households living in homes rated below EPC C in England, English Housing Survey 22-23 (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annex-tables-for-english-housing-survey-headline-report-2022-to-2023) and Wales 2021 census and Welsh Housing Conditions Survey 2017-18 (https://www.gov.wales/housing-wales-census-2021-html#:~:text=The%20census%20data%20on%20tenure,33.5%25%20(451%2C000)%20in%202021; https://www.gov.wales/sites/default/files/statistics-and-research/2019-10/welsh-housing-conditions-survey-energy-efficiency-dwellings-april-2017-march-2018-795.pdf
    
    
• Labour's rental and housing reforms will: 
• • Bring in a new deadline of 2030 for private landlords to make sure the homes they rent are energy efficient.  
  • Ban ‘section 21' no fault evictions which mean landlords can kick out families without any reason.  
  • Give every renter the same protection from damp, cold and mould by extending Awaab's Law to private renters. Stop rental bidding wars from forcing tenants to stump up more in rent out of fear of losing out.  
  • Let tenants challenge unreasonable rent hikes and hold landlords to account. 
  • Get Britain building so there's enough homes for renters to have the option of affordable and social housing, or getting on the housing ladder 
    
    
• The Conservatives promised new regulations on energy efficiency standards and the Renters Reform Bill, which would have ended no-fault evictions, but Rishi Sunak was too weak to stand up to vested interests in his own party and abandoned the pledges. Before the measures were scrapped, 80% of landlords said they had already prepared for the change.