Sian Berry today (25 March) officially launches her campaign to become Mayor of London by unveiling a package of policy to strengthen the rights of renters in our city.
If elected Mayor, Sian pledges to work with every Londoner for a right to a decent home, security from unfair evictions and protection from soaring rents. Her full package of plans includes winning rent control powers, fighting for the long awaited abolition of no-fault evictions, and supporting renters to set up co-ops to buy out their landlords.
Sian is herself a private renter, and has lived in six rented properties since moving to London in 1997. As an Assembly Member, she has stood up for renters and won improved policies from the current Mayor on the housing crisis in our city.
On the London Assembly, Sian has made renters’ rights a priority from the start, exposing the problems in a survey and report put together with her fellow renters in 2016. She pushed the current Mayor for more than three years to acknowledge the need for rent controls in London, pushed back on dodgy definitions of ‘affordable’ housing, achieved a big change in policy to give residents the power to vote down plans that demolish council homes, and won cross party support for ring-fenced funding for young people facing homelessness.
Momentum is building behind rent controls. Berlin, Paris and Barcelona have all introduced new rent control laws while Shelter and the New Economics Foundation have both backed reigning in runaway rents.
Today, Sian launched her campaign alongside a fellow renter in Hackney, whose experience is representative of many renters in London.
Georgia Elander is 25 years old and spends £775 a month on a small room in a flat shared with two other people. This represents approximately 40 percent of her take home monthly income. During her tenancy, she has had to put up with problems like damp, a collapsed ceiling, and rain coming into the kitchen through the back door.
The median rent of a two bed home in London is now 50 percent of the median salary, compared to just 26 percent of the median salary across England as a whole. On average, a London renter will spend 40 percent of their income on rent. In Berlin, a city with rent controls, renters spend on average 24 percent of their salary on rent according to a 2018 study.
As the official election period begins this week, Sian’s promise to stand with renters kicks off a campaign which seeks to bring more Greens into City Hall, with current polling putting them on track for a record result. In 2016, Sian came third, with the most second preference votes of any candidate.
On renters’ rights, Sian said:
“As a private renter myself, I know the reality of being a tenant in London. As Mayor, I will stand alongside millions of renters like me to strengthen our rights. I will push the Government until London gets the powers we need, and I will work with Mayors from other cities to get it done.”
“Almost every other major city has lower rents than London. Almost every other EU country has better protections for tenants. London needs a Mayor who will be a real champion for renters, bringing down skyrocketing rents, and bringing up the standards of housing. We’ve waited too long for the current Mayor to act. It’s time for a Green Mayor.
On the London elections, Sian said:
“This May, Londoners have a real chance to put more Greens in power.
“We’re showing record results in the polls already and getting a great response from Londoners across the city to our ideas, and that will only increase as they hear more from our campaign up to 6 May.”
Georgia said:
“I’ve had to put up with some shocking stuff as a tenant, especially for the amount of money I hand over from each pay packet.
“For the first three months I lived in this flat, there was literally a hole in the roof, and serious damp which had a real impact on my flatmate’s health – and this isn’t even the worst rented home I’ve lived in. And handing over such a huge amount of money each month just adds insult to injury.
“I know my story isn’t unique. Almost everyone I know my age is in exactly the same position. We can’t save, there’s nowhere left in London that’s affordable, and rent only seems to go up. We desperately need a Mayor who takes renters’ rights seriously – someone who will make it cheaper to live in nicer homes”
