Unwanted moves are costing private renters £229m every year, Generation Rent analysis estimates.

In 2019-20, 134,000 private renter households moved home after being evicted, coming to the end of a fixed term tenancy, or being faced with a rent increase. These households faced costs of £1459 to move home.

Generation Rent is calling on the government to introduce open-ended tenancies as part of its reforms to the rental market and require landlords who wish to evict tenants to sell or move back in to cover their tenants’ relocation costs.

At present, renters can be forced to move home if their landlord increases the rent to an unaffordable level, or issues them with a section 21 ‘no fault’ eviction notice after a fixed term ends. This can be issued without giving a reason. The government has committed to abolish section 21.

New analysis by Generation Rent finds that the average up front cost of an unplanned move for the median private renter household is £1,709. This includes:

• The deposit on a new home, worth five weeks’ rent (£808)
• Two weeks paying rent on two properties while moving (£323)
• Time off work to view properties, pack, and move home (£250 for 28 hours at minimum wage)
• Cleaning costs (two hours at £24)
• Van hire (one day at £34)
• Broadband installation (£20)

Generation Rent also looked at how different renters are affected.

For a single parent with children, this figure is highest, at £1,451 per person and lowest for sharers in a three-bedroom property, at £731 per person.

Analysis of the government’s English Housing Survey finds that 57,000 households moved in the private rented sector after being evicted from a private tenancy, 66,000 moved due to a fixed-term tenancy ending, and a further 11,000 moved due to a rent increase, making a total of 134,000 home moves a year that are unwanted. Given the cost of moving for each household, these unwanted moves are costing renters £229m a year.

A Generation Rent survey of 884 people who have rented from a private landlord in the last 5 years found that over half (56%) paid more rent when they last moved home.

Alongside financial costs, almost half (44%) reported having to move further away from friends or family, 15% were further from a hospital, and 5% had to move their children’s school.

The government has promised a White Paper on reform of the rental market this autumn.

Generation Rent is calling for open-ended tenancies, which would give tenants stability and flexibility, enabling them to put down roots in secure homes that they can call their own.

Where landlords wish to sell or move in, they should pay the equivalent of 2 month’s rent towards tenants’ moving costs, to minimise the stress of moving.

Alicia Kennedy, Director of Generation Rent, said: “Renters are shelling out millions to pay for house moves that they have no choice but to make. Not only is moving home expensive, it can force renters to move away from essential support networks, family and friends, and can disrupt children’s education.

“Renters deserve secure and stable homes where they can put down roots in their communities and thrive. With tenancies so short and evictions so common, this right is out of reach for millions of private renters.

“Generation Rent is calling on the Government to commit to open ended tenancies in the upcoming Renters Reform White Paper, and to make landlords contribute to renters’ moving costs in the event of an unplanned and unavoidable move.”