Joint letter to the chancellor: Rent freeze now

Members of Homes for Us have joined together with unions and thinktanks to call for a rent freeze

28 May 2026

Homes for Us members have signed up to a joint letter with trade unions and research organisations urging the chancellor to introduce a rent freeze immediately and take long term action to tackle the housing affordability crisis. Read the full letter and list of signatories below:

Dear Rachel Reeves,

As renters, trade unions, and research organisations representing hundreds of thousands of people, we welcomed reports that you have been considering a rent freeze across England. We urge the government to introduce a rent freeze and further affordability measures.

Asking rents have risen 40% since 2020(1) with renters spending on average more than a third of their income on rent. In comparison, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation reports that homeowners spend 15% less of their income on housing costs.(2) Lower-income renters experience even more extreme affordability pressures, with the lowest income quintile spending an average 63% of their income on rent. Unaffordable rents force people to work two jobs, skip meals, and cut back on essentials. A recent survey by Pegasus Insight in collaboration with the National Residential Landlord Association shows that 61% of landlords plan to increase the rent in the next year.(3) The affordability crisis and chronic shortage of accessible social and council housing make it increasingly impossible for families, disabled renters and others to live with dignity and independence.

For many renters, any further rent increase would tip them further into poverty or outright destitution. Nearly a quarter of children in England live in the private rented sector, with four out of ten of those families worried they might have to move within the next year.(4) Insecurity and worsening unaffordability in the private rented sector are contributing to the temporary accommodation crisis, with more than 170,000 children living in temporary accommodation.(5) During the 2022 – 23 inflation spike, there were widespread reports of landlords and estate agents taking advantage of high inflation by increasing rents far beyond any increased costs they faced.(6)

Renters need and deserve protection against economic exploitation. If the government had introduced a rent freeze in 2022, households would by now be saving £3,200 per year.(7) A rent freeze, followed by long-term rent controls, would be an effective measure to help lift millions of struggling households out of poverty and alleviate rising cost of living pressures.

The Spanish government has recently introduced a two-year rent freeze. Scotland implemented a rent freeze followed by rent controls. Rent controls are in place in at least 16 European countries. In virtually all of these countries, rents are substantially lower as a proportion of incomes than in the UK.(8)

Rent controls are popular. YouGov polling from February 2026 shows 78% of the UK public support rent controls.(9) Earlier this month, thousands of renters marched through the streets of London to demand rent controls and investment in council homes.

According to the 2024 English Private Landlord Survey, 41% of landlords have no borrowing on any of their properties and 42% have an interest-only mortgage.(10) Modelling by Shelter and other research has shown that rent controls would reduce homelessness and would not negatively impact housing supply.(11) Some recent commentary has cherry-picked outlier examples where rent controls do not apply to all private rented housing or do not stop rent rises between tenancies, loopholes that have been straightforwardly avoided in many places, including those recently implemented in France and Spain and soon to come into effect in Scotland.

We urge you to take action to protect renters from rising cost of living pressures by introducing a rent freeze and the following additional measures:

Between tenancies as well as within tenancies: to avoid the loophole that existed during the rent freeze in Scotland where landlords could raise the rent at the end of a tenancy or by evicting their tenant, any rent freeze should apply between tenancies as well as within tenancies.
A long term plan to tackle the housing affordability crisis: after the government introduces a rent freeze, it should consult with housing unions, campaigners and researchers about long-term solutions to the rental affordability crisis. This should include a mixture of long-term rent controls, and increased investment in accessible council housing and converting private rented homes into council housing.
Social housing tenancies: the government should consider applying any rent freeze to social housing tenancies or, at the very least, freeze increases of service charges, which often increase far above inflation and wages.

Signed,

Andrea Egan, General Secretary of UNISON

Fran Heathcoate, General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS)

Danny Sriskandarajah, Chief Executive, New Economics Foundation

Sarah Woolley, General Secretary, BFAWU (Bakers, Food, and Allied Workers Union)

Will Stronge, Director, Autonomy Institute

Tracey Lazard, CEO, Inclusion London

Hannah Dewhirst, Head of Campaigns and Communications, Positive Money

Bekah Hesse, Convener, London Renters Union

Pat Fernandes, Organising Committee member, Homes for Us Alliance

Nicholas Prescott, Chair, Greater Manchester Tenants Union

Phillip Newton, Director, Housing Action Teesside