Rent Rises of Up to 88% Still Approved in England Despite Reform Act, Tenants and Landlords Say Tribunal Is Not Working for Anyone

The rent tribunal system in England is not working for anyone, tenants and landlords have said, as rent increases of up to 88% continue to be approved despite Labour's pledge to curb unfair rises.

Tenants are challenging rent increases in record numbers since the Renters' Reform Act came into effect in May, making the process easier and less risky for renters.

Analysis of data from May to October by London Renters Union showed 80% of tenants who went through the tribunal process saw their rent go up, by an average of £1,200 a year, although in most cases it was less than the landlord's proposed increase.

In 36% of cases, the landlord's proposed increase was approved in full, and in 42% of cases the rent increase was reduced. In 16% of cases the rent increase was cancelled, and in 6% rent was lowered.

In one case, a rent tribunal approved an 88% rent increase on a property in Dagenham. The tenant, who paid rent via housing benefit, argued the increase would lead to undue hardship but still saw his monthly rent go up from £1,200 to £2,250.

In another case, a tenant who challenged a £17 a month rent increase received a £200 rent decrease after the tribunal ruled the rent was actually too high. Tenant unions have expressed concern over rent increases of 30% or more being regularly approved.

Jae Vail from London Renters Union said the system is clearly not doing what Labour said it would do in their manifesto, which was helping people challenge unreasonable rent increases, and asked what could be a better definition of an unreasonable rent increase than 40% or 80%. He added that in places where rents in an entire area are rising really rapidly, this does not protect tenants because it is quite hard to evidence this is actually out of character.

Vail added that renters were starting to face long delays to have their cases heard, and tenants in London have been asked to attend hearings in the Midlands due to backlogs.

The reforms, which took effect in May, mean the tribunal can no longer increase rent higher than the landlord's application, and rent increases can no longer be backdated to before the tribunal decision. The abolition of no-fault evictions also reduced the risk of landlords retaliating against tenants. The cost of applying is £47.

Chris Norris, chief policy officer at the National Residential Landlords Association, said the system was not working for anyone and there were concerns inaccurate decisions were being made by an overstretched workforce. He said only just over 30 full-time judges across the country are working on this and no more capacity or resource has been put into the tribunal system by the government. He also said judgments had been based pretty much exclusively on a trawl of RightMove or similar sites, which is not that helpful.

Norris also said there were concerns tenant unions were encouraging members to challenge all rent increases, which he described as an abuse of the system. Oxford Renters Union has asked its members to pledge to say no to rent increases by taking them to tribunal, with the goal of freezing rents and lowering the market rate for all Oxford renters. Norris said it is absolutely essential to make sure bad landlords do not try to replicate no-fault evictions by using rent increases, but it stops serving that purpose if people deliberately try to gum up the system. Renters unions pushed back, saying there was no evidence to suggest renters were flooding the system.

Nye Jones from Generation Rent said the tribunal system had been working well since the May reforms but further change was needed. He said it is based on what is deemed a fair market rent in the current market, but in many places renters are already paying way more than they can afford, and there is a need to look at how to reduce the relative cost of rent over time. Renters groups are calling on the government to set controls on rent increases across the country to make renting more affordable while housing stock steadily increases. Vail said what is being seen now is a really inefficient case-by-case form of rent control and asked why not have the version that would actually protect everyone.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said the Renters' Rights Act empowers tenants to challenge above-market rent increases through the tribunal, stopping private landlords from using increases as a backdoor means of eviction. The spokesperson said there is already evidence the changes are working, with cases across the country where tribunals have reduced above-market rents by hundreds of pounds a month or ruled there should be no increase.