Green Party Leader Natalie Bennett pledges an end to Right to Buy and calls for a ‘Living Rent Commission’
* Greens calling for a ‘Living Rent Commission’.
* ‘Right to Buy’ would end under Greens who would build 500,000 homes for ‘social rent’.
Green Party leader Natalie Bennett today announced plans to introduce smart rent controls that keep rent rises in line with inflation.
The Green Party would link a cap on annual rent increases to the Consumer Price Index, as part of a package of measures to make the private rented sector fairer for tenants. Bennett also committed her party to ending ‘Right to Buy’ and call for a ‘Living Rent Commission’ to investigate ways to bring rent levels down.
Natalie Bennett said:
“The Green Party believes a house should be a home, not an asset for investors.
“At the moment, the private rental market is structured in a way that benefits landlords over tenants, and treats homes as investment vehicles. As more people rent, rather than own, their homes, it is vital that we correct this imbalance.
“Keeping rent rises in line with inflation will reduce poverty and allow tenants a better standard of living. We also need to look into all options for cutting rent. That’s why we’re calling for a Living Rent Commission to tackle our housing crisis.”
In the borough of Camden, where Natalie is a parliamentary candidate, there are 600 homeless families. House prices are 15 times the average income of the people who live here,and there are more than 25,000 people on Camden’s housing waiting list, a fraction of which is housed every year.
The policy was launched by Streatham Parliamentary candidate Jonathan Bartley in the Cressingham Gardens estate, which local Greens are campaigning alongside residents to protect from the Labour council’s development plans.