Generation Rent, a campaign group that is consistently critical of lettings agencies and landlords, says a priority of the new government must be to bring down rent.

Yet at the same time, the group also wants the Boris Johnson administration to continue with the previous government’s policy to scrap Section 21 eviction powers.

Commenting on the election results, Generation Rent director Dan Wilson Craw says: “The Conservatives re-enter government with a manifesto commitment to abolish no-fault evictions. This is the key to giving renters security in their homes and preventing homelessness, and with cross-party support this should be at the top of the government’s agenda.

“But to get it right, the government’s reforms must protect tenants whose landlord needs to sell, and prevent unscrupulous landlords from using rent rises to bully their tenants.

“Beyond this, the Conservatives want more home owners, and have promised longer term mortgages and discounted starter homes. But when two thirds of the private renter population has no savings at all – let alone enough for a deposit – the impact of these policies will be minimal.

“The priority should therefore be to bring down rents.”

Craw continues: “To do this the government must look to their opponents’ manifesto pledges to invest in hundreds of thousands of new social homes. This would help the worst-off tenants escape private sector rents, reducing demand in the wider market. Lower rents would then leave more money in tenants’ pockets – whether it helps them buy a house, or provides much-needed financial resilience.”

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