ACTIVISTS have slammed Housing Minister Angela Rayner for accepting a £20,000 speaking fee from an industry lobbying group.

Campaigners with the London Renters Union (LRU) staged a protest outside the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government today.

They presented Ms Rayner with a novelty £20,001 cheque, asking she listen to their needs and calls for rent control, rather than accepting money from industry group Property Mark.

Tenants said the firm representing estate agents has briefed and lobbied heavily against ministers implementing a rent freeze when the Housing Secretary was reportedly considering the measure.

In June, Ms Rayner invoiced Property Mark the sum of £20,000 for a two-hour speaking engagement.

The Ashton-under-Lyne MP announced last month that her department will not consider rent control, despite pressure from renters and campaign groups to bring down the cost of rent.

Campaigners cited recent reports on the issue, including from University College London, Institute for Public Policy Research, the New Economics Foundation, showing that renters could save thousands of pounds thanks to rent control measures.

They would also save the public billions in housing benefit payments, especially when paired with an increased investment in council housing, the LRU said.  

Asking rents have hit new record highs in recent months, they added, citing research which put the proportion of renters struggling to cover basic expenses at about a third.

Despite some protections which were brought with Labour’s Renters’Rights Act (RRA), campaigners warned these were not enough and do nothing to shield them from “sky-rocketing” rents.

LRU spokesperson Jae Vail said it was a “clear conflict of interest that the housing secretary is taking large sums from the property industry and then acting to protect the profits of landlords, developers, and estate agents.

“Rent controls are an effective cost-of-living measure that could save struggling renters thousands a year.

“Ms Rayner must listen to renters rather than carry out the bidding of rich lobbying groups. If this government really wants to make a break with ‘40 years of neoliberalism’, then it has to put a stop to the exploitative rent hikes pushing us out of our homes and communities.”

It comes as the Housing Secretary has faced ongoing criticism for her decision to push through plans for a data centre in east London’s Brick Lane, widely opposed by local residents.