MORE than 30 MPs are supporting an amendment to the Renters’ Rights Bill calling for a cap on rents.

Ministers will debate and vote on amendments to the long-awaited Bill for the final time tomorrow.

The Bill contains major reforms including a ban on Section 21 evictions, which allow landlords to evict tenants with just two months’ notice without providing a reason, and new measures to ensure landlords fix health hazards like damp and mould.

But the legislation has been criticised for not addressing the challenges faced by renters dealing with skyrocketing rents.

For the last debate, dozens of MPs, including Jeremy Corbyn, Zarah Sultana and Apsana Begum, are supporting an amendment, tabled by Paula Barker, to introduce an urgently needed rent cap.

The proposed cap would stop landlords from raising rents above the consumer price index level of inflation or wage growth, whatever is lower.

Average rents in England rose by 9.3 per cent in the 12 months to November 2024, bringing the national average to £1,362 a month, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

London was the hardest hit by rises and saw the average rent increase to £2,206.

A poll by homeless charity Shelter found that nearly two-thirds of workers living in private rented housing in England were struggling to pay their rent.

Generation Rent chief executive Ben Twomey noted the Renters’ Rights Bill had “very few measures” that provide “the breathing space we need from the cost of renting.”

He said: “We hope the government at least brings forward the amendment to introduce rent caps within tenancies to limit how much landlords can hike the rent on their tenants. 

“Without this measure, many landlords will use rent hikes as a Section 21 eviction in all but name.

“In the long-term, the government must act to stop runaway rents and unfreeze the Local Housing Allowance rate to protect families on low incomes from poverty and homelessness.” 

Last week, an amendment submitted by Labour MP Alex Sobel was adopted that limits the amount that a landlord can demand upfront to one month’s worth of rent.