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The Rent Trap: How We Fell Into It and How We Get Out of It
Deregulation, revenge evictions, parliamentary corruption and day-to-day instability: these are the realities for the eleven million people currently renting privately in the UK. At the same time, house prices are skyrocketing and the generational promise of home ownership is now an impossible dream for many. This is the rent-trap, an inescapable consequence of market-induced inequality.
Rosie Walker and Samir Jeraj offer the first critical account of what is really going on in the private rented sector and expose the powers which are conspiring to oppose regulation. A quarter of British MPs are landlords, rent strike is almost impossible and snap evictions are growing, but in the light of these hurdles The Rent Trap will show how people are starting to fight back.
Drawing on inspiration from movements in the UK, Europe and further afield, The Rent Trap will cohere current experiences of those fighting the financial burdens, health risks and vicious behaviour of landlords in an attempt to put an end to the dominant narratives that normalise rent extraction and undermine our fundamental rights.
Rosie Walker and Samir Jeraj offer the first critical account of what is really going on in the private rented sector and expose the powers which are conspiring to oppose regulation. A quarter of British MPs are landlords, rent strike is almost impossible and snap evictions are growing, but in the light of these hurdles The Rent Trap will show how people are starting to fight back.
Drawing on inspiration from movements in the UK, Europe and further afield, The Rent Trap will cohere current experiences of those fighting the financial burdens, health risks and vicious behaviour of landlords in an attempt to put an end to the dominant narratives that normalise rent extraction and undermine our fundamental rights.
176 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 15, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 3, 2020
Everyone should read this book. All private renters should read this book. Then join a tenants union ✊
March 24, 2016
There are many surprising revelations in this, relatively, small book that will come as a surprise to most people in this country, not least the fact that there are 11 million renters who live in properties owned and operated by private landlords.
I've been a life-long renter (although for most of that as a tenant of a Housing Association and therefore with a certain amount of security – but even that area is becoming more and more precarious as time goes on) but much of this information was new to me. The trouble is it's also new to those who play a part in this enterprise, from the tenants themselves, the vast majority of the landlords and the police, who are sometimes called in to mediate over disputes, where they automatically side with the landlord or his/her representatives.
One of the disturbing facts is the use of what is known as Section 21 – a little snippet of law which means that landlords can evict tenants under what is known as a 'no fault' clause. Basically if the landlord wants you out then out you go. This insecurity of tenure is on top of the seemingly never ending rise in rents. Yes, some have and still are benefiting from the ludicrous boom in housing prices but as time goes on the number who will suffer from the distorted market is increasing.
There's a chapter which looks at the history of private renting, and the housing sector in general, since the beginning of the 20th century. There was a quick realisation that leaving housing totally unregulated would not only be a social injustice it could lead to the likelihood of conflicts within society – and at different periods of the 20th century there were indeed confrontations between tenants and the authorities, representing the interests of the landlords. However, the fight has gone out of the British people over the last 40 years or so. In the housing field this has opened the door to an increasing number of abuses, including the entry of criminals and gangsters – the huge amounts of money involved making it an attractive area to infiltrate.
Although not the start of the rot a great deal that is happening now can be traced back to the 1988 Housing Act introduced by the fundamentalist free marketeer Thatcher. Just as she opened up the way for the bankers to loot the wealth of ordinary people she destroyed any collective feeling that housing should be treated as a necessity in a properly functioning, civilised society. Money rules and market forces are left to dictate rent levels. If it leads to 'social cleansing' in some cities, so what, the market will eventually adjust to meet the demand. The fact that this is not happening and that all governments, of whatever hue, have no wish to get involved in the chaos they have let loose only means that life is more miserable for an increasing number of people.
In the chapter 'The Inequality Machine' we are shown how, with the connivance of governments, the banks, the estate agents, letting agencies and the landlords (some of them only owning one building and using this investment in property as part of a 'pension plan') the tenants are forced to pay higher and higher rents and taking on all the burdens of risk whilst their security becomes even more tenuous.
The title of the book says it all. More and more people are caught in a trap for many of whom there is little hope of an escape. As to the solution the book offers little hope. It lists efforts that people make, in relatively small numbers, to break out of this trap but the authors admit that this will only have an impact on a minute percentage of those already effected.
The only way to challenge these injustices over a basic need in a civilised society is to move to a situation where housing is considered a human right and not something that can be bought by the highest bidder. How that is achieved was not part of the remit for the book but has to be developed if we are not to see the number of evictions increase, more homeless on our streets and the long term future for millions being one of exploitation, insecurity and misery whilst others get fat off their ill-gotten gains.
I've been a life-long renter (although for most of that as a tenant of a Housing Association and therefore with a certain amount of security – but even that area is becoming more and more precarious as time goes on) but much of this information was new to me. The trouble is it's also new to those who play a part in this enterprise, from the tenants themselves, the vast majority of the landlords and the police, who are sometimes called in to mediate over disputes, where they automatically side with the landlord or his/her representatives.
One of the disturbing facts is the use of what is known as Section 21 – a little snippet of law which means that landlords can evict tenants under what is known as a 'no fault' clause. Basically if the landlord wants you out then out you go. This insecurity of tenure is on top of the seemingly never ending rise in rents. Yes, some have and still are benefiting from the ludicrous boom in housing prices but as time goes on the number who will suffer from the distorted market is increasing.
There's a chapter which looks at the history of private renting, and the housing sector in general, since the beginning of the 20th century. There was a quick realisation that leaving housing totally unregulated would not only be a social injustice it could lead to the likelihood of conflicts within society – and at different periods of the 20th century there were indeed confrontations between tenants and the authorities, representing the interests of the landlords. However, the fight has gone out of the British people over the last 40 years or so. In the housing field this has opened the door to an increasing number of abuses, including the entry of criminals and gangsters – the huge amounts of money involved making it an attractive area to infiltrate.
Although not the start of the rot a great deal that is happening now can be traced back to the 1988 Housing Act introduced by the fundamentalist free marketeer Thatcher. Just as she opened up the way for the bankers to loot the wealth of ordinary people she destroyed any collective feeling that housing should be treated as a necessity in a properly functioning, civilised society. Money rules and market forces are left to dictate rent levels. If it leads to 'social cleansing' in some cities, so what, the market will eventually adjust to meet the demand. The fact that this is not happening and that all governments, of whatever hue, have no wish to get involved in the chaos they have let loose only means that life is more miserable for an increasing number of people.
In the chapter 'The Inequality Machine' we are shown how, with the connivance of governments, the banks, the estate agents, letting agencies and the landlords (some of them only owning one building and using this investment in property as part of a 'pension plan') the tenants are forced to pay higher and higher rents and taking on all the burdens of risk whilst their security becomes even more tenuous.
The title of the book says it all. More and more people are caught in a trap for many of whom there is little hope of an escape. As to the solution the book offers little hope. It lists efforts that people make, in relatively small numbers, to break out of this trap but the authors admit that this will only have an impact on a minute percentage of those already effected.
The only way to challenge these injustices over a basic need in a civilised society is to move to a situation where housing is considered a human right and not something that can be bought by the highest bidder. How that is achieved was not part of the remit for the book but has to be developed if we are not to see the number of evictions increase, more homeless on our streets and the long term future for millions being one of exploitation, insecurity and misery whilst others get fat off their ill-gotten gains.
July 2, 2022
"A renter effectively pays not once but three times: first in rent, second as an unpaid caretaker of an inflating asset and third, with the freedoms they forfeit. With the silent passing of every standing order, their roles, their status - their class - becomes ever more entrenched, and the possibility of escape reduced. Sometimes, wealth inequality has to be carefully revealed by social scientists, using t-tests and regression analysis to unpick complex variables. But in the private rented sectors it’s there in sharp, zero-sum relief. And no one can bear to look."
When The Rent Trap was first published in 2016, there were 11 millions private renters in the UK. In 2021/22 the figure is 13 million - 1 in 5, and growing all the time. The book opens with a fairly typical example of a Section 21 “no fault” eviction which was so anger-inducing I almost flung it in the Clyde. Thankfully the Scottish Government ended no fault evictions with the Private Residential Tenancy in 2017, and the recent Renters Reform Bill White Paper sets out plans to do the same in England.
As usual what follows is more of a list of particularly interesting points in lieu of a connected or thought-out review.
• The term 'property-owning democracy' was coined by a Scottish Tory MP in the 1920s. There was an explicit conception of homeownership as a bulwark against socialism and communism by giving the working class a financial stake in the status quo.
• "Traditional trade union style organising models can't work when each renter has a different landlord; there's no mechanism for collective bargaining in the way that there is in a workplace, or in a social housing block owned by one organisation. With 70 per cent of the UK's private landlords letting just one home each, private renters are scattered as a political group.” This is certainly true but might slowly be changing thanks to the work and higher profile of tenants’ unions.
• The book quotes a researcher from centre-right think tank Civitas, Daniel Bentley, who intriguingly argues that big corporate landlords would actually be preferable to the situation we have now. "Shifting ownership from unaccountable private individuals to accountable companies. Institutions, like pension funds, are less interested in rising house prices and would rather have long-term predictable income from stable rent.” I’m more sceptical than Bentley of how big corporate landlords would behave but he’s right that they'd be more accountable than millions of private individuals and, if nothing else, they'd be easier for tenants to organise against.
• The most interesting chapter was The Inequality Machine, where the authors interviewed private landlords directly. Many consider themselves accidental (or incidental) landlords, renting out spare bedrooms or first-homes they decided not to sell when they moved. In most cases these people were renting out to friends or friends of friends. Almost every interviewee displays a serious cognitive dissonance about their position. While they thought of themselves as “good” landlords, who treat their tenants with respect and do the repairs, they all shy away from thinking about the amount of rent they charge their tenants and how this compares with their mortgage repayments. In most cases, the rents they charged their ‘friends’ more than covered their mortgage. Sometimes two. None could comfortably justify it, and most squirmed at this line of questioning.
• Even their tenants don’t seem to mind this state of affairs, simply grateful for slightly cheaper rents than they’d have to pay otherwise. “I ask Alice why people in her situation aren’t more angry, when they struggle to pay off the mortgages of other who could easily afford to pay it themselves. ‘I think people recalibrate their level of satisfaction according to what they feel is possible’, she says.”
The last chapter feels rather perfunctory, listing still-niche alternatives to the rent trap and concluding that none of these are imminently scalable, before abruptly ending. Still, as someone who already thinks a lot about the private rented sector I was surprising how much of the book I found useful and insightful while still acting as a short and accessible introduction for people newer to the topic. Recommended reading for anyone who rents.
June 3, 2021
"A renter effectively pays not once but three times: first in rent, second as an unpaid caretaker of an inflating asset and third, with the freedoms they forfeit. With the silent passing of every standing order, their roles, their status - their class - becomes ever more entrenched, and the possibility of escape reduced. Sometimes, wealth inequality has to be carefully revealed by social scientists, using t-tests and regression analysis to unpick complex variables. But in the private rented sector it's there in sharp, zero-sum relief. And no one can bear to look."
The UK's housing crisis has been growing increasingly worse for several decades. This has not been helped (and is still not being helped) by the implementation of many Conservative "rely on the free market to make it right" policies.
Rents have become so high that it is near impossible for most renters to save anything away and there are so few legal protections for renters that you are only ever two months away from being evicted from a property, even if you never actually did anything wrong. One of the most common reasons landlords evict tenants from their properties is because they either want to sell up or hike up their rent prices for the next tenants.
It does suck if you rent in the UK... but so-called home owners are not that much better off. I say so-called, because a mortgage is not homeownership. A mortgage means the bank owns the house, which you slowly purchase in full from the bank over a set period of time... THEN you own your house. If you're even lucky enough to eventually purchase it completely. The average mortgage today demands considerably more than what the average person earns. And just because you start off with an income that warrants you access to a mortgage, doesn't mean you will always maintain that income level in the increasingly volatile and unpredictable job market.
The only person who really benefits are the people can afford to buy up properties and rent them out... But the fact that so many people have been doing this is the reason why the UK now has a housing crisis.
Conclusion: don't live in the UK!
The UK's housing crisis has been growing increasingly worse for several decades. This has not been helped (and is still not being helped) by the implementation of many Conservative "rely on the free market to make it right" policies.
Rents have become so high that it is near impossible for most renters to save anything away and there are so few legal protections for renters that you are only ever two months away from being evicted from a property, even if you never actually did anything wrong. One of the most common reasons landlords evict tenants from their properties is because they either want to sell up or hike up their rent prices for the next tenants.
It does suck if you rent in the UK... but so-called home owners are not that much better off. I say so-called, because a mortgage is not homeownership. A mortgage means the bank owns the house, which you slowly purchase in full from the bank over a set period of time... THEN you own your house. If you're even lucky enough to eventually purchase it completely. The average mortgage today demands considerably more than what the average person earns. And just because you start off with an income that warrants you access to a mortgage, doesn't mean you will always maintain that income level in the increasingly volatile and unpredictable job market.
The only person who really benefits are the people can afford to buy up properties and rent them out... But the fact that so many people have been doing this is the reason why the UK now has a housing crisis.
Conclusion: don't live in the UK!
May 25, 2022
This was an outstanding book.
I found it extremely pertinent to my field / career.
This book contained some excellent solutions and recommendations, as well as describing the issues and causes of our current situation.
Companion Recommended Reads
I recommend reading this alongside the following books, to get the full picture:
Housing the Homeless and Poor: New Partnerships Among the Private, Public, and Third Sectors
Poor Housing: A Silent Crisis
Missing Middle Housing: Thinking Big and Building Small to Respond to Today’s Housing Crisis
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
...
Very important read.
4.8/5
I found it extremely pertinent to my field / career.
This book contained some excellent solutions and recommendations, as well as describing the issues and causes of our current situation.
Companion Recommended Reads
I recommend reading this alongside the following books, to get the full picture:
Housing the Homeless and Poor: New Partnerships Among the Private, Public, and Third Sectors
Poor Housing: A Silent Crisis
Missing Middle Housing: Thinking Big and Building Small to Respond to Today’s Housing Crisis
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
...
Very important read.
4.8/5
July 15, 2018
This is a really accessible non-fiction book which will appeal to anyone who has ever been a tenant in a privately rented property - which I and many of my friends have. It is very clear that this book is slanted towards a left-wing perspective on the private renting market and landlords, so anyone coming at this book looking for a nice balanced view of landlords is looking in the wrong place.
The point I believe the book is trying to make is that we, as a society, have got into a position where home ownership and housing are seen as "investments" and is no longer a basic right. This comes from a series of policy initiatives over the last forty years alongside the deregulation of the financial markets. 11 million people in Britain are now in the privately rented sector. The only real criticism that I have about the book is that the final section is a little rush and does not really give any solid, big political solutions to getting people out of the rent trap.
The point I believe the book is trying to make is that we, as a society, have got into a position where home ownership and housing are seen as "investments" and is no longer a basic right. This comes from a series of policy initiatives over the last forty years alongside the deregulation of the financial markets. 11 million people in Britain are now in the privately rented sector. The only real criticism that I have about the book is that the final section is a little rush and does not really give any solid, big political solutions to getting people out of the rent trap.
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April 21, 2026Interesting read. This book really highlights how renting has become more than just housing, it’s now deeply linked with inequality and long-term financial pressure.
I think one practical thing many renters overlook is how rent increases over time can impact their overall finances. Even small changes can make a big difference in the long run.
I usually check this with a https://alquilerescalculadora.com/ calculator before planning ahead.
I think one practical thing many renters overlook is how rent increases over time can impact their overall finances. Even small changes can make a big difference in the long run.
I usually check this with a https://alquilerescalculadora.com/ calculator before planning ahead.
April 16, 2020
Absolutely brilliant. Essential reading for anyone interested in the housing crisis and how we might escape the cycle of people fucking over other people for the sake of their own finances. To paraphrase the book; we might think that the housing market is so chaotic that our own moves within it make no difference. But they do.
January 18, 2025
Very well written, very readable, this book offers a complete overview of the poor state of the rental market in the UK in 2016 - unfortunately, it has remained very pertinent. I would recommend it to anyone interested in social inequality and “how we got here.”
April 25, 2022
Everyone should read this!!! stop what you’re doing and read this!!!! The UK is a scam
April 14, 2025
-1 star for simply being british (i love this book)
April 10, 2016
**Full disclosure - Samir, one of the authors of this book is a friend of mine and I am one of the renters interviewed for this book**
This book was a really strong insight into the housing problems we face in the United Kingdom today, showing where they have developed and in addition sharing some knowledge about how renters can best tackle the situation they find themselves in.
Although the "how we fix it", as a reviewer mentioned below, is pretty implicit - to me the clear outcome was that we need to lobby our government to provide a strong solution to this crisis and we need to make sure that our voice is heard.
I'd really encourage anyone to pick this up - it's not that long of a book, which was great for me as someone who finds non fiction a bit harder to read (therefore it taking me a long time to get through!).
This book was a really strong insight into the housing problems we face in the United Kingdom today, showing where they have developed and in addition sharing some knowledge about how renters can best tackle the situation they find themselves in.
Although the "how we fix it", as a reviewer mentioned below, is pretty implicit - to me the clear outcome was that we need to lobby our government to provide a strong solution to this crisis and we need to make sure that our voice is heard.
I'd really encourage anyone to pick this up - it's not that long of a book, which was great for me as someone who finds non fiction a bit harder to read (therefore it taking me a long time to get through!).
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews