RENTERS groups, unions and charities sounded the alarm today over the government’s failures on rental reform, warning that help for tenants “stands in stark contrast” to support for mortgage holders.

An open letter to Rishi Sunak called on the Prime Minister to “take seriously the insecurity that is plaguing private renters” in England and to speed up the passage of new legislation through Parliament.

Data by the Office for National Statistics revealed last week that rents in Britain are now at the highest rate on record, up 5.1 per cent in the year to June, amid a cost-of-living crisis.