Tenants’ unions have pledged to help private renters challenge rent increases at tribunal by launching an online rent rise checker.

As part of the new Resist Rent Rises campaign, the free tool encourages tenants to share details about their rental home, including postcode and number of bedrooms, their current rent and proposed rent. It also asks for details about the people they live with and issues such as disrepair in the house, “so we can suggest some arguments that you can take to rent tribunal”.

Groups behind Resist Rent Rises include London Renters Union, Greater Manchester Tenants Union, and Oxford Renters Union, who explain that its campaign is also researching rents across the UK to understand what market rent is.

The site also points tenants towards rent tribunal decisions in their area and has published a guide to resisting rent rises and to check whether a landlord has followed the correct procedure.

Cost

With the cost for tenants to challenge a Section 13 rent increase now £47, it’s expected that tribunals could be inundated with claims.

The campaign website explains that renters who challenge their rent increases are on average £1,140 a year better off than they would have been had they accepted the landlord’s proposed increase. However, it adds that rather than navigate a tribunal system, tenants should also be fighting for rent controls.

Labour MP Paul Davies (pictured right) has become the latest politician to join the call for controls, including rent freezes, despite the government continuing to reject such measures. He explains: “There have been various rent controls used in the UK in the past and they remain common in many other European countries. I fully believe they are a viable option in bringing down rents as a proportion of income.”

Urgent

Generation Rent has again urged the government to take urgent action on rising rents, labelling today, ‘London: Cost of Rent Day’, the point in the year at which, on average, all of a renter’s income earned so far has gone to their landlord. This is three weeks later than the national average of 11th May.

Generation Rent is also running a survey on its website, asking tenants if they received the information sheet from their landlord and reminding them that if not, they face a £7,000 fine.

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