UK : ‘Rent Hikes in England will not Cease’ says Housing Secretary, Angela Rayner
- Vineet Malik
- 37 minutes ago
- 3 min read
By Vineet Malik | July 24, 2026 | India
It is less than a week, Andy Burnham took charge as the new Prime Minister (PM) of the United Kingdom (UK), following the resignation of controversial tenure held by Keir Starmer, the new Secretary of State for Housing, Angela Rayner from the Labour Party has thrown a live burning shell on private renters’ in England
Rayner while speaking to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) today said “I don’t think that rent freezes, rent controls is a way forward at the moment”.
The new government formed by the PM Andy Burnham since quite some time was reported for a positive outlook to cap and limit the rent hikes in England.
This is a U turn taken by PM Andy Burnham disappointing over 11 Million private renters' in England.
In view of the above, the new PM has back stabbed the private renters’ who had big hopes and dreams from the new government to put a cap on ever increasing rents in England.
The Renters’ Rights Act came into force in England on 1 May this year.
After almost indefinitely waiting for the enactment of the Renters’ Rights Act in England, not ceasing the rent hikes is akin to allegedly diluting this Act and favouring over 100 Members of Parliament (MPs).
Over 100 MPs hold a stake in hundreds of residential homes across England.
With this shocking and gloomy development, Chief Executive, Generation Rent – Holy Williamson said “Homes are the foundations of our lives. The Renters’ Rights Act was a vital first step in addressing the power imbalance between tenants and landlords, but it does not go far enough to address the cost of rents.
High rents lock people in poverty and mean children going to school hungry and families stuck living in temporary accommodation. A limit on rent increases would be a hugely impactful cost of living measure that places very little strain on Treasury budgets.
On behalf of renters across England, I am very disappointed that Angela Rayner is not considering it as part of the government’s cost of living focus and we urge ministers to review the evidence as they develop their plans to tackle the affordability crisis.
The announcement has come the day after Generation Rent unveiled the ‘Cost of Renting Receipt.’ The campaign group's analysis found that, if the price of everyday groceries had risen at the same rate as private rents since 1988 (the last time there was a system of rent control in England), a standard ten item shop from a supermarket would cost more than five times what it does now.
At £1442, the average monthly rent in England is thirteen times higher now than it was in 1988 (£111). If the cost of a standard ten item grocery shop had risen at the same rate, it would cost (on average) £117.13, compared to £22.67 now and £9.01 in 1988.
On average private renters in England spend over 36 percent of their income on rent, with this figure rising to well above 40 percent in many major cities.
Generation Rent has called on this new government governed by Andy Burnham to urgently introduce a limit on how much landlords can hike the rent, capped to the lower of Consumer Price Inflation or wage growth.
Similar policies have recently been endorsed by influential think tanks such as the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the New Economics Foundation and the Fabian Society. "
It remains to be seen if this new government will genuinely work for the welfare of private renters’ in England or not.
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