Everyday activism: Private tenants demand right to home

Figures & data

Figure 1. Sample characteristics.

Table 1. Tenants’ demands.

	Policy	No	Specifics
1	Rent control	31	Reduction (n = 5); Freeze (n = 2); Capped/indexed increases (n = 7) by quality, local wages or equivalent mortgages; German model (n = 1); Unspecified (n = 16).
2	Tenure stability as well as flexibility*	28	Tighter clauses for eviction (n = 26): including making it illegal to evict in winter (n = 1), for a rent increase (n = 1), for landlord to move in for just a short time (n = 1), during the Covid19 pandemic (n = 1); Remove Section 21 (n = 6); New York model (n = 1). Allow tenant flexibility (n = 8) via: rolling contracts (n = 1), unlimited contracts (n = 1), open-ended contracts (n = 2), longer-assured contracts (n = 1), longer eviction notes (n = 2); opt-out clauses (n = 1).
3	Personal-isation*	19	Right of or choice in: decorating (n = 11, including for carpets and kitchen units), furnishing (n = 6, even just changing the layout), pictures hanging (n = 4), wall painting (n = 3), mirror fixing (n = 1), planting flowers in the garden (n = 1).
4	Property quality, maintenance and repairs*	17	Quality (n = 11): Legislate more ‘detailed, stringent, higher, greater, less vague, livable, decent’ standards (n = 10), including for thermal efficiency (n = 2), quality of furniture (n = 1), dividing walls in HMOs (n = 1), mandatory living room in HMOs (n = 1); Do not allow poor quality housing to be rented (n = 1). Repairs (n = 8): Quick deadline (n = 5); Rent reduction (n = 5); Prompt enforcement, including through the Court (n = 2); By tenant & deducted from rent (n = 2); Real teeth legislation (n = 1).
5	Pets	16	Pro-pet, standard position (n = 9, unless landlord give good reason not to, n = 2); Make pet discrimination illegal (n = 5); Recognise benefit for mental health (n = 2).
6	Detailed regulation*	14	Detailed quality standards for property, maintenance/repairs and rent deductions/ increases (n = 14); Repeal the 1988 Act (n = 1); Defining “peaceful habitation” (n = 1) or “home” (n = 1).
7	Disputes*	13	Support with non-Court third party (n = 11) and Court proceedings (n = 5); Strengthen enforcement (n = 3).
8	Licensing	12	Including: public register (n = 3) and transparent tenant reviews (n = 2).
9	Rules for landlords*	12	Greater penalties (n = 6); Disallow rough landlords to continue letting (n = 3); Limit landlord portfolio (n = 3); Disallow speculation (n = 1); Selling with tenant at the same rent as in Germany (n = 1); see also raw 2 on restrictions for landlord to move in (n = 1).
10	More systemic changes*	11	Move away from the asset economy (n = 4, including by tackling house price growth and speculation, and progressive wealth taxation); Enact Right-to-Buy in PRS (n = 1); Make social and private renting equivalent (n = 4); Make renting history equivalent to a mortgage deposit (n = 2); More generous welfare system (n = 2); Build a reliable pension system (n = 1); Implement a living wage (n = 1).
11	Affordable alternatives*	10	Social housing (n = 8); Homeownership (n = 2), Cooperative model (n = 1), State-regulated institutional PRS (n = 1).
12	Ban discrimi-nation*	5	Family with children (n = 3); Benefit claimants (n = 3), see also row 5 on pets.
13	Ban entry barriers	6	Help with rent deposits (n = 4); Ban use of guarantor (n = 1) and prior landlord reference (n = 1)
14	Others	11	Ban letting agency’s fees (n = 3) and intrusive visits (n = 3, including taking photos of tenants’ stuff); Regulate BtL mortgages (n = 1); Greater awareness of legal rights (n = 1); Give squatter rights (n = 1); Choice of utility providers from day one (n = 1); More flexibility on HMOs household types (n = 1, i.e. gender and sexual identity)

Note: * as some participants mentioned several items while others have not specified any, the numbers in column 3 are different from those in column 2.