Greens announce plan for three-year emergency brake on private rents to give renters ‘breathing space’

Three year emergency brake would prevent rents rising above CPI, wage growth or 2% whichever is lowest 

• Brake would allow wages to begin catching up with runaway rents, while government implements long-term Fair Rents Guarantee  

• Polanski to say the plan will end fear and uncertainty' of private renting  

Zack Polanski will today [2 Oct] unveil the Green Party's plan for an emergency brake on private rents to put an end to the fear and uncertainty' plaguing renters and tackle the runaway rents which have outstripped wages across the country.  

Speaking at his party's biggest ever conference in Brighton, Polanski will put the rent brake at the heart of his party's promise to ensure a good home for everyone, at all stages of life.  

Speaking about the impact of rising rents and the housing shortage, Polanski is expected to say:  

Whether it's council homes I'm knocking on, or terraced housing the mums answering the door tell me they've still got their kids living at home with them.  

Nineteen year olds who can't afford student housing, so they're living at home and commuting in to uni. Missing lectures because they can't afford the train in and out.  

 Or twenty five year olds who can't find a job, no matter how many tens or hundreds of applications they put in. Who can't imagine ever being able to afford to rent even a room of their own never mind being able to put down roots in their own home.  

 Or thirty, thirty-five year olds. Moving back to their parents place with their partners in tow. Sometimes their kids too. Maybe it's temporary at first. Planning to spend a few months back at home to save up a bit in the hopes of scraping together a deposit. But times get tougher and those months turn to years. 

And unveiling the party's plans for an emergency brake and a Fair Rents Guarantee, he will say:  

For too long, landlords have been able to hike prices way beyond wages. Leaving renters forced to meet the cost to keep a roof over their heads, cutting back and back and back on everything else.  

That's why today I'm calling for a three year emergency brake on private rents. No rent rises above CPI, wage growth or 2% whichever is lower. No sudden hikes. No evictions under the guise of rent rises. No more fear and uncertainty.  

That emergency brake would give renters vital breathing space. Let wages begin to catch up with the rents that have outstripped them for too long. And give government time to develop a national Fair Rents Guarantee to keep rents fair and affordable for everyone, for ever.   

Carla Denyer, Green MP for Bristol Central, said:  

 I am so pleased that Zack has made a Fair Rents Guarantee a key part of his conference speech keeping up the pressure on government on behalf of the millions of private renters in this country who have no choice but to transfer an unsustainable and growing proportion of their income straight into the bank accounts of landlords. 

The Green Party are leading the way on ending unaffordable rents in this country. This is an issue I have pushed the government on every day that I've been an MP, and I have found their empty words and half-measures wanting.  

It is totally unacceptable that ordinary people are forced to limit themselves and their life chances to try to keep up with sky-high rent payments. This system is fundamentally broken, and the emergency brake would provide a much-needed reset while we work out the best long-term system of rent controls for our country.  

Successive governments have allowed housing' to trump homes, and prioritised the market over people's wellbeing. This has to stop now. 

 Notes:  

• Rents in the UK are now at the highest point on record, and the rate at which rents are increasing jumped from 3.3% to 3.7% from June to July 2026, despite the Renters' Rights Act coming into force in May.  

• In 2024-25, private renters in the UK spent an average of 34% of their household incomes on rent. 

• Even if the Government meets its target of 1.5 million homes over the course of the parliament, analysis from the Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that under current government policy, increasing rents will cancel out all average wage growth until at least the end of the decade meaning no improvement in affordability. 

• The private rented sector (PRS) has grown by 2.7 million homes from 2000 to 2020. It now comprises 19% of total housing stock compared to just 11% in 2000, meaning almost 1 in 5 households in the UK now rent privately.  

• The number of children and older people living in the sector has also increased substantially. Just under a quarter of all children now live in private rented properties, up from just 8% in 2000, and the number of people aged over 65 living in the PRS is forecast to reach over 2 million by 2040, up from 500,000 in 2022.