On 18 April, the renters of London took to the streets to fight for their rights. Among their demands were calls for rent controls and council homes. One politicians who agrees with this message is the Green Party’s Zack Polanski:

Yes!

This is exactly it!

Council homes – not the luxury flats sold off to foreign investors.

And it’s beyond time for rent controls! https://t.co/qiSS2M15nN

— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) April 18, 2026

Zack Polanski — Get organised

Speaking on the issues capital-dwellers face, the London Renters Union have said:

Is your rent too high? You’re not alone. Londoners face the highest rents in Europe. Many of us live with the threat of eviction or in unsafe housing.

The housing market is stacked in favour of landlords and investors who profit at our expense. Our rigged housing system is making our city more unequal.

Unless we make big changes, many of us will be stuck renting overpriced and poorly maintained housing for the rest of our life.

As we reported, Polanski has spoken out on these issues before. Specifically, he took issue with housing minister Matthew Pennycook siding with landlords over the everyday people they’re lording it over:

Labour’s housing minister’s opposition to rent controls welcomed by the country’s largest private landlord.

Who’s side are Labour on? Renters or landlords. The answer is here. pic.twitter.com/olVzEIVTki

— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) April 15, 2026

He’s also on message when it comes to the key demands of London’s renters:

Build council homes.

Bring in rent controls.

Time to end Rip off Britain.https://t.co/9SpVlVBrsV

— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) April 10, 2026

Demands

The call for better conditions goes beyond council homes and rent controls, with the London Renters Union listing the following additional demands:

Decent standards in housing
Good standards for all rented properties, with full monitoring of property conditions and redress processes that have the needs of renters at their heart.

. …

Indefinite tenancies
Government should implement promised end to no fault (Section 21) evictions immediately, remove end dates from tenancies, place limits on rent rises.

Housing justice for people living in temporary accommodation
All temporary accommodation must be safe, secure, within peoples home borough and be part of a quick, clear path to a permanent home. All landlords providing temporary accommodation must be held accountable.

No discrimination in access to housing
End DSS discrimination by landlords and letting agents against people receiving benefits and renters with children, stop racist discrimination in housing and any discrimination on grounds of identity.

No borders in housing
End right to rent and nationality requirements for social housing, no border checks in licensing or enforcement regimes

Public housing available to all
End right to buy, fund councils to build and renovate good quality housing for their waiting lists, prioritising anyone vulnerable and in need

Housing for people not profit
End the politics and culture of property as investment rather than to house people and bring homes into democratic public ownership.

Alternatives

Much like Zack Polanski said, Labour have sided with landlords on the issue of rent controls. Somehow, however, the other parties are worse.

As we reported, a Reform housing spokesperson argued that the UK had introduced too many regulations after the Grenfell disaster. He additionally dismissed what happened to the victims, saying flippantly that “everyone dies”. The Tories, meanwhile, are the ones who oversaw Grenfell and then dithered on taking action.

In the future, then, renters will have a choice between:

• More of the same.
• More of the bad old days.
• More money in their pockets because they’re not being tipped upside down and shaken for change by their landlords.

Featured image via Barold

By Willem Moore

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