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Zack Polanski, leader of the Green Party, is poised to open the party’s conference by proposing a temporary three-year halt on increases in private rental prices. He plans to emphasize housing as a central concern related to generational fairness during his address to party supporters this Friday afternoon. Polanski will call on the government to restrict rent hikes to the lowest rate among the consumer price index inflation, wage growth, or 2%, for a period of three years.
The Green Party claims that their advocacy has influenced Labour to reconsider its political positioning on several key issues. The event, hosted in Brighton, marks the Green Party of England and Wales’ largest ever conference, a milestone underscored by the tripling of its membership since Polanski took the helm just over a year ago. His speech is expected to highlight how many younger generations are increasingly reliant on living with their parents due to escalating rent costs, affecting students, young professionals, and even couples in their mid-30s.
Polanski intends to argue that landlords have long raised rents at rates exceeding wage growth, placing renters under significant financial strain and forcing sacrifices in other areas of life. By slowing rent increases, he suggests, tenants would be granted crucial respite, allowing time for the development of a national Fair Rents Guarantee aimed at maintaining affordable rental housing long-term. The government’s recent Renters’ Rights Act, which limits annual rent increases to the property’s open market rate and makes tenancies rolling rather than fixed terms, along with tougher eviction rules, does not, he asserts, fully alleviate the “fear and uncertainty” experienced by millions of renters.
Despite the Greens’ longstanding push for rent controls, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has cautioned against potential unintended effects, such as supply shortages in the rental sector. Nevertheless, Green co-deputy leader Rachel Millward told BBC Breakfast that most landlords are “super-earners” who could handle modest reductions in rent without severe financial impact. The timing of the conference coincides with recent local election gains for the Greens, including hundreds of new councillors and the election of their fifth MP, Hannah Spencer. However, the party faces challenges as its national poll lead appears to have plateaued, and it navigates Labour’s shift under new leadership.
Millward remarked that Labour, under Prime Minister Andy Burnham, has adopted positions that now closely align, “rhetorically,” with those of the Greens. Examples include Burnham’s support for electoral reform, a stance long championed by the Greens, and a more conciliatory approach toward the European Union. Labour has also announced sanctions against Israeli settlements deemed illegal by international law and revived a refugee resettlement scheme—policies Polanski attributes to the electoral pressure from the Green Party. Adding complexity, Polanski is campaigning in the upcoming Holborn and St Pancras by-election prompted by Sir Keir Starmer’s parliamentary departure and plans to return to the constituency immediately after the conference. He has encouraged party members to help canvass during the weekend. A win would be a significant breakthrough, securing the Greens’ first parliamentary seat in London, though he must overcome a substantial Labour majority from the 2024 general election
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