The agency’s research team has also found that average rents are likely to outstrip wage inflation, reaching £1,550 a month by the end of 2026 on current trajectories, an increase from £1,217 in December last year.
Even Andrew Bailey, the Governor of the Bank of England who usually refrains from making political interventions, has warned the Government about this. Last week he told the Treasury Select Committee that there was only so much that monetary policy could do and expressed his concern about the financial stress being placed on private renters by rising rents and Section 21 evictions.
If interest rates go up again, rents continue to rise and the Government squeezes the state support for those who need help, there will effectively be no safety net for anyone who falls on hard times. An issue that is too often overlooked is the plight of older renters. It is a testament to how successful the narrative of “Generation Rent”, adopted as it has been by politicians, journalists and campaigners alike, has implied that private renters are, largely, young people.
She told me that older renters face an “emergency” and that rising rates have created a “ticking time bomb”.