The campaign for a limit on rent hikes and a just deal for private sector renters won’t stop until the government admits failure and starts looking for solutionsEvery time it seems that the housing crisis couldn’t get any worse,it does. Our social housing stock is fast diminishing, buying a domestic is still an impossible dream for many and the rental market is both viciously competitive and increasingly unaffordable.
Figures released nowadays compound the already dismal picture for those living in the private rented sector. Average rents across Britain went up by 4.9% in 2015 – an increase far higher than most people saw in their pay packets. In some places the hikes in rent were particularly eyewatering. In Brighton & Hove – where my constituency is based – landlords raised rents by an average of 18% compared with 2014. These record rent level rises mean a typical flat in my domestic city now costs £1078 a month and an average earner pays 65% of their salary for a typical two-bed flat.
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Source: theguardian.com