Zack Polanski Proposes Three-Year Emergency Brake on Private Rents

Green Party leader Zack Polanski proposed a three-year emergency brake on private rent increases during his keynote speech at the party conference in Brighton. The proposed triple lock would cap rent rises at the lowest of three metrics: the consumer price index, wage growth, or 2 percent. Polanski argued the measure is necessary to provide renters with breathing space and end the uncertainty caused by landlords hiking prices beyond wage growth. He also called for a long-term national Fair Rents Guarantee to ensure permanent affordability.

Polanski criticized Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Secretary of State Jonathan Reynolds, accusing the Labour government of favoring the interests of developers and big landlords. Beyond rent controls, Polanski advocated for a windfall tax on bank profits, a continued ban on new North Sea oil and gas drilling, and the deproscribing of the group Palestine Action. He urged voters to support the Green Party to pressure the government to move further left, claiming Green influence has already impacted Labour's positions on EU relations and Israeli settlement sanctions.

The proposal arrives as Polanski campaigns in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, a contest he described as a 50-50 split. While the Green Party reports membership growth, the conference has faced internal tension over a motion to declare Zionism a form of racism. Additionally, the Institute for Fiscal Studies warned that implementing rent controls could cause rental demand to exceed supply.