Renters' manifesto

Two and a half million Londoners now rent their homes from private landlords. They have minimal rights and no control over rent increases. Some privately rented homes are well maintained and affordable but the very worst housing conditions - and the highest levels of poverty - are found in the private rented sector, where landlords encounter little enforceable regulation yet enjoy huge profits.

The vast majority of London’s private renters do not want to be private renters. They rent privately because they have no choice: the shrinking supply of social housing means a secure, social tenancy is harder and harder to get, while the encouragement of buy-to-let has pushed house prices well beyond the reach of anyone without inherited wealth. ‘Help to Buy’ schemes have inflated house prices further and only help a tiny few: in all but one London borough, first time buyers need an income of more than £50,000 and a deposit of at least £10,000 to be able to use the current scheme.

One in three households living in London’s private rented sector has children. The minimum legal tenancy lasts just six months, and landlords are free to make tenants move on without having to give a reason. So twice a year, these children face the possibility of having to move home and move schools - if the landlord puts the rent up, or refuses to repair something, or if they simply fall out of favour with the landlord. It is not unheard of for landlords to wait until their tenants’ children are settled in local schools then, demand huge rent increases, knowing that some parents will have no choice but to pay. Short-term private tenancies cause neighbourhood ‘churn,’ breaking down community links and putting huge pressure on family relationships.

London needs all its citizens, not just the wealthy ones. It needs teachers, doctors, councillors and social workers. It needs cleaners, care workers, taxi drivers and bar staff. It needs students, musicians and poets. But without drastic action to improve conditions for its private renters, London will destroy the very things that give it life. London needs a bold, brave Mayor who will stand up to private landlords, letting agents, property developers and ‘buy to leave’ investors. We need all our politicians to support councils in securing the resources they need to do their jobs properly, and be tough on those who still don’t try. We need representation from politicians who understand what life is like for private renters in this city, who are willing to challenge central government when national systems fail to meet our needs.

Renters need:

Power and democracy

A London Housing Bill, allowing devolution of powers over housing. With devolved power to collect its own property taxes, London would then be able to make housing policy that fits London’s unique circumstances. London is unlike the rest of the UK and its powers should reflect this. The London Housing Bill could give the Mayor power to introduce modern, flexible, city-wide rent controls - bringing London into line with other major cities in Europe.

Keep the ‘Olympic precept’ (around £25 per year currently added on to Londoners’ council tax to pay for the Olympics, due to be phased out). This £25 per year could become a housing precept, ringfenced to finance a London housing programme that builds genuinely affordable housing.

Ensure that private renters are properly consulted when the Greater London Authority and London Assembly make decisions about housing.

Affordability

Abandon the current definition of ‘affordable’ as 80 per cent of market rate. With market rates so high, 80 per cent is unaffordable to the vast majority of ordinary Londoners, whether they’re renting or buying.

Incentivise private landlords to charge the London Living Rent: an amount based on how much money a renter needs to live on (to buy food and cover other essential living costs) after they have paid their rent. It’s not as crude as ‘one third of net earnings,’ but it is based on average earnings in different parts of London, and is calculated according to whether or not a renter has children or a partner. Landlords who charge above the London Living Rent should be heavily taxed on the amount above that line.

There are many successful and modern forms of rent control used in other cities, including:

The Berlin model: landlords can’t charge more than 10% above the median rent for the city

The Swedish model: rents are set using a points system, with points awarded for the size and quality of the home, the features it has, and what amenities are nearby

A flexible model: a cap is set, but landlords are free to charge above it if they want. Any amount they charge above the cap is taxed at 50 per cent. This extra tax revenue can fund social housing in the capital to alleviate the pressure on the private rented sector

Welfare Reform

Put pressure on central government to end the freeze on Local Housing Allowance - otherwise known as Housing Benefit - which is currently frozen until 2020. If rents are allowed to rise and LHA is not, private renters are pushed into poverty as they are forced to make up the difference, leaving less money for other basic needs.

Planning

Improve council staff training to understand the ‘viability assessments’ that developers use to get around their Section 106 affordable housing obligations. Build the skills and confidence of council staff so they can challenge developers who currently run rings around them. OR…

Abolish viability assessments altogether, replacing them with a more transparent and democratic system

Make the planning decision-making process more transparent and accountable, with genuinely enforceable quotas for affordable housing to rent and buy, rather than meaningless targets.

Land

Set up a new agency to encourage public bodies who own land in London to use it for genuinely affordable house building. Transport For London (TFL) owns land bigger than the size of Camden, and much of it is underused.

Explode the myth that developing brownfield sites is more expensive than developing green belt land. It isn’t.

End landbanking by introducing a ‘use it or lose it’ two year limit.

Funding

The GLA currently runs a Housing Bank offering low cost loans to speed up housing developments. Currently, this is targeted at ‘intermediate rent’ and shared ownership, neither of which offer a good deal to London renters. Instead this money should be used to set up Community Land Trusts, housing co-ops and a fund to enable private renters to take their landlords to court.

Landlord licensing

Around half of London boroughs are now planning or have already introduced some form of additional and selective landlord licensing scheme, to drive up standards and force out criminal landlords. Some are better resourced than others. A London-wide enforcement team, joining all the council schemes together, would work evenly and more effectively. In addition, Introduction of a mandatory London landlord licence, would demand better standards.

Make energy efficiency measures a compulsory in privately-rented homes, so that private renters do not have to go without heating, in poorly insulated homes.

Decent Homes Standard

Currently, the Decent Homes Standard only applies to social housing. Make it a requirement of a London landlord licence that every privately rented home meets the Decent Homes Standard, so that all private renters can live in a warm, safe home.

Security of tenure

Currently, the only private landlords still offering tenancies of longer than a year are those who cater for the wealthiest end of the market (for example, Get Living London in the Olympic Village charges around £400 per week). Londoners on ordinary incomes need security of tenure, too. Make it a requirement of a London landlord license that landlords offer three or five year tenancies. Landlords can end the tenancy early, if they can prove they need the property for themselves, or for a family member to live in, or if they can prove that they are selling it. Tenants can leave at any point, giving one month’s notice, because, in London, landlords have no difficulty finding replacement tenants.