In July 2026, SpareRoom surveyed 5,607 UK renters - including 2,126 renters in London - to better understand their views on rent controls and how high rents had impacted their lives.
Two thirds have faced recent rent hikes
- In the past 12 months, 32% of UK renters and 35% of London renters said they'd been forced to move because their rent became unaffordable.
- Two thirds (67%) of UK renters had seen their rent increase in the past 12 months: 42% had seen rents go up in their current rental and 25% faced rises when they moved into a new rental.
- 70% of London renters had seen their rent increase in the past 12 months: 44% in their current rental and 27% when they moved into a new rental.
Affordability is stretched thin
Just 15% of UK renters are spending less than 30% of their take-home pay on rent; almost four in 10 (39%) spend more than half their after-tax income on rent. Affordability is worse in London than across the rest of the UK.
| Q. What percentage of your monthly take-home pay (after tax) do you spend on rent, excluding bills? | Whole of UK renters (5,607 respondents) | London renters (2,126 respondents) | UK excluding London renters (3,481 respondents) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Less than 20% | 4.6% | 4.2% | 4.9% |
| 20-29% | 10.7% | 8.9% | 11.8% |
| 30-39% | 23.2% | 22.2% | 23.9% |
| 40-49% | 23.7% | 24.7% | 23% |
| 50-59% | 18.1% | 18.9% | 17.6% |
| 60-69% | 10.7% | 11.8% | 10% |
| 70% or more | 9% | 9.2% | 8.8% |
| Less than 30% | 15.3% | 13.1% | 16.7% |
| 30% or more | 84.7% | 86.8% | 83.3% |
| 50% or more | 37.8% | 39.9% | 36.4% |
Real-world impact of rising rents on people's lives
- Mental health: 57% of renters say rising rents have affected their mental wellbeing
- Quality of life: 54% say the quality of housing they live in has been determined by rising rents
- Life milestones: 24% say rising rents have impacted their ability to date; 22% have delayed living with a partner; 23% have delayed having children.
- Financial: 84% say their ability to save money has been impacted; 28% say their ability to move jobs has been affected.
- Only 7% say rising rents have not affected their lives in any way.
What do renters really think of rent controls?
Calls for the introduction of rent controls, which include placing limits on how much rent can increase over time (rent caps), are growing.
SpareRoom asked tenants for their views and rent controls are clearly very popular, with 85% of renters strongly or somewhat in support, and only 8% somewhat or strongly opposed.
What are your views on rent controls or caps (limits on how much rent can increase over time)?
- Strongly support - 77.6%
- Somewhat support - 7%
- Neither support nor oppose - 7.2%
- Somewhat oppose - 2.5%
- Strongly oppose - 5.7%
Those who said they somewhat or strongly opposed rent controls were asked: Why do you oppose rent controls/caps? Select all that apply
- Does not address the root cause of high rents (insufficient housing supply) - 70.4%
- Risk of pushing landlords out of the market, reducing housing supply and driving up rents in the long term - 60.4%
- Discourages landlord maintenance and investment in upkeep of rental properties - 52.2%
- Reduced incentives for construction of new rental properties, reducing market supply and driving up rents in the long term - 49.1%
- Other cities/countries that have tried this already haven't succeeded in keeping rents affordable - 48%
- Other - 15%
The survey also found that fewer renters were opposed to the use of temporary rent freezes in emergencies.
What are your views on the use of rent freezes (a temporary ban on raising rent) for a fixed period as an emergency measure?
- Strongly support - 75.7%
- Somewhat support - 11.1%
- Neither support nor oppose - 7.1%
- Somewhat oppose - 1.9%
- Strongly oppose - 4.2%
Matt Hutchinson, director at flatshare site SpareRoom, comments:
“Rents just hit record highs in six of the UK's nine regions, and supply across the country has taken a battering as the Renters' Rights Act came into effect. Although tenants are now better protected in the market, they are certainly not better off. Renters have been struggling with housing costs since the pandemic forced up prices steeply, and now supply is being squeezed, rents will only go up again unless action is taken.
“It's easy to see why the majority of renters support rent controls - they'll bring some much-needed relief from rent rises - but they won't solve the underlying supply issue. The real question is whether Andy Burnham's Labour government will manage to do what successive governments have failed to for decades and meaningfully increase the UK's supply of affordable homes.”