There was more bad news for renters this week as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released their latest figures on price rises.

Private rent has rocketed again, with the average increase to monthly payments hitting 9% across the UK – despite inflation sitting at 3.4%.

And while average rents went up to £723 a month in Wales – a 9% rise – and £944 in Scotland – a 10.9% rise – the average each month in England reached £1,276 – up 8.8%.

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This is far from a new problem, as according to the ONS; the percentage increase on monthly rents has been gradually rising since May 2021 – following a drop during the pandemic.

There is an ongoing call for more houses to be built – and social housing in particular – but what could be done now to help those seeing their wages increasingly eaten up by putting a roof over their heads?

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Generation Rent: ‘Out of control’

Generation Rent, a campaign group representing renters, says the market is “completely out of control”.

Speaking to Sky News, its policy and public affairs manager Connor O’Shea says: “Why are rent rises bigger than inflation? Because they can be.

“Landlords are being told and encouraged to put the rent up by whatever they want as there are so many people desperate for a home.”

Mr O’Shea says renters are being forced to view properties at the same time as other people to pile pressure on to make an offer, told to pay 12 months’ rent in advance to secure a property, and increasingly placed into bidding wars.

The campaigner is also warning of an increasing phenomena of what Generation Rent calls “economic evictions”, where landlords raise rents so astronomically, people are forced to move home.

Cap rents at local wage growth or inflation

The group has a number of policy proposals to help “slam the breaks” on the hikes, including introducing a mechanism where rent increases are capped by either the local wage growth figure or local inflation in specific areas.

They also want to see rent control powers devolved to regional mayors who could bring in measures in hot spots.

“There is an emergency in a lot of these places,” says Mr O’Shea. “The prices are unaffordable across the board, but in the inner cities there are real issues stemming off the back of these rent increases, driving people out of their homes.

“So… we don’t think rent controls should happen across the country, but perhaps in the worst hit areas of London, of Manchester, of Newcastle, wherever it may be, that local authority mayor could step in.”

NRLA: Use tax to boost rental sector

But the chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA), Ben Beadle, says the government needs to “play with the tax levers” and encourage more people into renting out homes to prevent further rises.

Speaking to Sky News, he says there has been “white hot demand” in the sector as landlords were “exiting in droves”, but their homes were not going back into the private rental market.

“According to Zoopla, landlords are getting 15 inquiries per property – double what is was before the pandemic,” he says. “So it is like surge pricing for an Uber. If more people are looking, the prices are going to surge.

“And the reason why landlords are exiting at such rates is the growing costs of mortgage rates.”

After the mini-budget of Liz Truss’ premiership, rates rocketed, hitting a high of 6.86% in July last year – compared to 2.34% in December 2021.

And while the rates have begun to subside, an average two-year fixed mortgage is still 5.79%.

The NRLA chief also points to a government move in 2015 to phase out the amount of tax relief landlords could get on their by-to-let mortgages, as well as the 3% stamp duty introduced on the purchase of long-term homes to rent.

Mr Beadle thinks taking immediate action on revising those tax changes would have an immediate impact on the price of rent.

Joseph Rowntree Foundation: The long awaited Renter’s Reform Bill

Senior economist for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), Rachelle Earwaker, accepts there has been “some uncertainty” for landlords, and their costs have increased.

But she believes there is one measure that would “cost the government nothing” and totally change the market.

“Bring in the Renter’s Reform Bill,” she says, speaking to Sky News.

The Conservatives’ proposed legislation makes a number of promises around strengthening renters’ rights and includes a long-awaited ban on “no-fault” evictions, which allow landlords to claim back properties and remove tenants without giving a reason.

But despite first being proposed in 2019, it has still failed to make its way through parliament, and it is unclear when the legislation is set to return

Shelter: Limited in-tenancy rises

Shelter also wants to see the government make private renting “more secure and affordable”.

Similar to Generation Rent, the homelessness charity’s chief executive, Polly Neate, is calling for ministers to “limit in-tenancy rent increases to protect tenants from being forced out of their homes by a sudden and unexpected rent hike”.

But the Shelter CEO is joining JRF’s call for the Renter’s Reform Bill to be enacted, telling Sky News the government has to keep its promise to pass a “water tight bill”.

She says: “Private renting has reached boiling point. Decades of failure to build genuinely affordable social homes has made private renting the only option for many, and as a result, competition for overpriced and often shoddy rentals is fierce.

“Landlords can hike up the rent, safe in the knowledge that if their tenants can’t pay, they can issue a no-fault eviction with just two months’ notice and get a new tenant at a higher rent.”

She adds: “Getting rid of Section 21 no fault evictions will mean renters can challenge unfair rent increases without worrying about being slapped with a retaliatory eviction by their landlord.”

Generation Rent’s Mr O’Shea calls the bill the “elephant in the room” on how to fix rising costs, adding: “It is impossible to ignore this problem now. It is actually damaging to the economy as a whole, because if someone is paying 40% of their income on rent alone then they are not spending in other places.”

A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesperson said: “We recognise the cost-of-living pressures on tenants are facing, and our landmark Renters Reform Bill offers a new, fairer deal for tenants and landlords.”