TUESDAY'S Argus rise of the renters article highlights Brighton’s housing crisis with house prices out of reach and rents soaring beyond many local people.

People are now being forced away from friends, family and community by unaffordable housing costs. The private rental market is failing many in our city. Soaring rents lead to more evictions – a major cause of homelessness in the city.

No wonder we see more and more people in sleeping bags outside shops. Experts say housing should cost no more than 33 per cent of income yet some people are spending 60 per cent and using food banks. We are calling for a living rent (like a living wage) that leaves people enough to live on. Is that too much to ask for the sixth richest country in the world?

At the last election some parties supported so called “smart” rent controls whereby increases are limited. This was a small insufficient step forward. Here it is a case of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. We need proper rent controls that bring rents down, not “smart” ones that allow them to increase by less. Controls would be phased in, giving landlords time to adjust. The details of how best to do it (like the living wage) should be worked out by a living rent commission.

Rent controls work in Germany where rents are much lower, their tenants have proper security and their homes are decent and people choose to rent. Whilst here for most private renting is an option of last resort. The time has come for reform, for a living rent based on what people can afford, not on a failed market.

  • David Gibson is from the Living Rent Campaign