November 28, 2023

E22: Why is renting so expensive? With Jenny Lamb, David Byers and Becky O’Connor

27 minutes

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Renting has been a hot topic of debate throughout the cost of living crisis - and with good reason. The cost of privately renting a home has risen every month since November 2021, with the average price now 12% higher than this time last year.

In this episode we take a look at the reasons behind this, what your rights are as a tenant or a landlord, and what needs to change to improve the housing market for everybody.

Helping us to do so with their expertise are:

Policy Officer for Shelter; Jenny Lamb;
Deputy Editor for Property at The Times ; David Byers, and
Director (VP) Public Affairs for PensionBee; Becky O’Connor.

Episode Breakdown*:

02:49 Recent national rental increases

03:35 How much are we spending on rent?

04:18 Housing supply and demand

06:05 Evictions and homelessness*

10:01 The impact on our other finances

11:18 The impact on older renters

13:24 Property as an alternative to a pension

15:54 Your rights as a tenant or landlord

18:36 Where to go if you’re struggling to pay

21:42 The Renters (Reform) Bill

24:50 Affordable housing.

* We talk about Section 21 notices in this episode, but wanted to give you a clear explanation of what they are. A Section 21 notice can be used if a landlord wants their tenant to leave a property that they own. A landlord can only serve you this notice if your fixed-term tenancy has come to an end or if you’re in a periodic tenancy, but they don’t need a reason to make you leave. A landlord must give you at least two months’ notice to vacate the property. At the end of that period, if you haven’t left the property, the landlord can start the formal court process to formally evict you. This usually takes a number of weeks and could result in a court order that forces you to leave the property.

You can see all the rules around Section 21 notices on gov.uk. If you’ve been served a Section 21 notice, you can see what your rights are on the Citizens Advice website.