England has 12 million private renters. Two in five spend over 30 per cent of income on rent and one in ten spend over 70 per cent. Polling shows 72 per cent of the public and 80 per cent of renters believe the housing system favours owners over renters, with strong support for government regulation when markets fail.
Renters and landlords were not really debating the same thing: one side treated housing as a right, the other treated rents as a price signal. The close decision left the market case standing, but the room’s strongest emotional charge came from the belief that renting itself has become a trap.
The floor’s most-respected No argument was bluntly economic: “Prices should be regulated by the market: demand and supply.” Other No voters blamed policy rather than landlords, arguing that “Every time this has been tried the supply reduces and rents rise”, while another wanted Housing Benefit rents fixed rather than paid at market rates.
Yes voters answered with the pressure of everyday housing costs. The side’s most-respected case warned, “There is no way anybody will ever buy a house again”, while another went further: “We don’t need landlords.” Their argument was not simply for a cap, but for a different settlement in which housing was treated as a right rather than an asset.
That is where the two sides talked past each other. No voices argued that supply, taxation and planning were the real culprits; Yes voices described insecurity as the defining fact of renting, one calling it “a constant background stressor of not knowing whether you’ll have anywhere to live in six months’ time”. The debate was less about the technical design of regulation than about whether landlords provide a necessary service or merely control access to shelter.
For a self-selected online chamber, the result was less a settled theory of housing than a clear preference for market correction over rent control. Yet the intensity of the losing case showed how difficult it is to defend the status quo when the cost of renting is also experienced as the loss of a future.
“There is no way anybody will ever buy a house again if we’re all stuck paying nearly half of our salaries to greedy landlords and paying off their mortgages for them. Rent for a studio/one-bed flat should be fixed at absolutely no higher than 25% of the average salary for the area. The way things are going we’ll be seeing 60 year olds hunting for a room to rent with randoms on Spare room it’s gett”
YES case · BenHarvey · 2 respects
“Prices should be regulated by the market: demand and supply. Government distorted balance of the equation by artificially increasing the demand (mass immigration and housing benefits), overtaxing and putting too much red tape on market. Now we have rent costs higher the costs of repaying the mortgage, an absolute absurd. Government regulations (or interventions) always make prices higher than the ”
NO case · Slawomir · 3 respects
Should the UK further deregulate planning laws to accelerate housebuilding?
Housing · 951 votes · 58% voted No
Should British citizens get priority for social rented housing above non-citizens with indefinite leave to remain?
Housing · 937 votes · 75% voted Yes
Should foreign non-residents be banned from purchasing residential property in the UK?
Housing · 795 votes · 63% voted Yes
Should ground rents on all existing leasehold properties be capped at a peppercorn (£0)?
Housing · 473 votes · 77% voted Yes
Will the Renters' Rights Act end up hurting the tenants it was meant to help?
Housing · 482 votes · 61% voted Yes
Should air conditioning be mandatory in all newly built homes?
Housing · 379 votes · 57% voted No
Is the decline in home ownership in England since 2003 a serious problem?
Housing · 263 votes · 76% voted Yes
Should Indian citizens be prevented from buying property in Britain until India allows reciprocal purchases by Britons?
Housing · 194 votes · 71% voted Yes
14 Opinions
Private landlords must be regulated to ensure they keep their property well maintained and this required an adequate return. However they must be able to evict tenants for gross violations of tenancy agreements e.g. wilful damage, non-payment or ASB.
Not only should the government regulate rents it should also start a massive programme building affordable family & first time buyer homes (similar to the Singapore model). Is it any suprise so many people are homeless or stuck in low quality rentals with no prospect of saving to buy your own home when so many landlords are only interested in profit, putting it before quality of service
Every time this has been tried the supply reduces and rents rise. If we want to live in a free society the market should be free to set levels. If supply increases rents fall. Serious empirical studies in Berlin & recently Edinburgh demonstrate folly of politicians. With a command & control economy that’s one thing, but in a free society political meddling / grandstanding has unintended consequences. Problem is the left NEVER listen & promote policies destined to always fail
No, but they should set the rent rate for Housing Benefit houses. Why is this paid at market rates? No wonder HB costs are exploding.
Prices should be regulated by the market: demand and supply. Government distorted balance of the equation by artificially increasing the demand (mass immigration and housing benefits), overtaxing and putting too much red tape on market. Now we have rent costs higher the costs of repaying the mortgage, an absolute absurd. Government regulations (or interventions) always make prices higher than the free market.
We don't need landlords. They exist with the permission of society. They provide nothing and paywall a human right. It should be illegal to profit from the provision of housing.
Maybe the solution is to stop taxing the hell out of landlords, so it can be a profitable business again.
There is no way anybody will ever buy a house again if we’re all stuck paying nearly half of our salaries to greedy landlords and paying off their mortgages for them. Rent for a studio/one-bed flat should be fixed at absolutely no higher than 25% of the average salary for the area. The way things are going we’ll be seeing 60 year olds hunting for a room to rent with randoms on Spare room it’s getting ridiculous!