Colchester Parliamentary candidates share their views on housing crisis and renting

COLCHESTER’S Parliamentary candidates have outlined their renting and housing views as it is revealed that a renter with a median salary in Colchester spends more than 40 per cent of their income on rent.

Office for National Statistics figures show the average rent in Colchester was £1,043 a month in May while separate data from the ONS show the median wage for the same month was £2,355.

This means based on individual wages without cohabitation that rent accounts for 44 per cent of the monthly income for an average individual.

Rent in Colchester has increased 8 per cent from £966 a year ago and increased 42 per cent from £733 when records started in 2015.

Across England, rent has increased 9 per cent from last year and 35 per cent since 2015.

Campaign group Generation Rent said the next government must tackle the cost of rent by building more homes and stopping landlords from raising rent above wage growth or inflation.

Worry - James Cracknell, the Conservative candidate for Colchester, is worried about how individuals and couples can afford to rent after they pay their bills (Image: Submitted)

The Conservative’s parliamentary candidate James Cracknell said that home ownership also had to be considered as well as the housing rental market.

Mr Cracknell said: “Home ownership rates dropped significantly during the last Labour government, a trend that hasn't reversed.

“In contrast the average age of first-time buyers has increased consistently but not dramatically since 1997. It was 29 years when Tony Blair came to power, 32 years when Gordon Brown left office and will be 34 years on July 4."

Mr Cracknell also said the increase of couples as first time buyers – from 61 per cent in 1997 to 80 per cent at the start of 2024 – indicated that two salaries are needed to buy a house.

He also said that those in Colchester on the median salary will spend more than 40 per cent of their monthly income on rent, adding: “That is before council tax, utility bills, food, commuting to work etc.

“How are an individual or couple supposed to live month to month with no financial buffer and no ability to save for a deposit on a house?"

He also proposed that almshouses, low cost community housing, could be a "viable option" for enabling locals to stay in villages they lived and said “get people on the that security of property ladder and ease pressure on the rental market

(Image: Steve Brading) Summit - Labour's Parliamentary candidate Pam Cox said she would host a summit immediately regarding housing and landlords

Labour’s parliamentary candidate Pam Cox said: “As a city councillor, I know all too well that many renters in Colchester are struggling and that a very high proportion of their monthly income is going on rent.

“If I’m elected this week, one of the first things I’ll do is convene a meeting of local letting agents and landlords to start to implement some of the actions agreed in the recent North Essex Housing Summit. We need to support responsible landlords and beef up protections for renters against the less scrupulous ones."

Ms Cox added: “If Labour forms the next government this week, we'll immediately abolish Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions and assist private renters to be better able to challenge unreasonable and sudden rent increases.

“We'll also require all landlords to meet energy efficiency standards, saving renters hundreds of pounds per year. We all know that bold action is needed to tackle the wider housing crisis if young people are going to have a hope of being able to set up homes of their own."

She added: “To do that we need to increase housing supply but only if the infrastructure is there to match that new supply. Labour knows we need to give the biggest boost to affordable, social and council housing in a generation”.

Homelessness - Martin Goss, the Liberal Democrat candidate for Colchester, said new social housing was needed in Colchester to tackle homelessness (Image: Colchester Liberal Democrats)

Martin Goss, the Liberal Democrat’s candidate for Colchester said that his party are calling for more social housing, with Colchester being one of the first places to build new council houses once the law changed.

He said renters need a fair deal by “ending no-fault evictions”, extending the length of tenancies, and ensuring that rent can only “increase by a fair amount each year”.

Mr Goss said: “In Colchester we have more than 3,000 families on the housing waiting list and more than 320 families in temporary accommodation in Ipswich, Clacton and other areas.

“This is totally unacceptable. New social housing will help tackle this Colchester crisis and control rents to be more affordable.”

As the Liberal Democrat candidate, Mr Goss also pledged to insulate homes nationally, abolish leaseholds for residential properties, and give new powers for local authorities to control and manage second homes.

Renter - Sara Ruth, Colchester's Green Party candidate, revealed her experience of being a renter (Image: Submitted)

Sara Ruth, the Green Party candidate for Colchester, said she could be described as ‘Renter Ruth’, a potential voting term suggested by Maria Sobolewska from the BBC.

Ms Ruth said: “I fell off the housing ladder when I divorced in 2011 and found myself back in the private rental sector.

“Most recently I lived in a flat in Colchester for five years until the rent was hiked by £100 per month. Previous yearly increases had been £25 per month, which made it unaffordable for me. My only option was to house-share which is hardly ideal for someone in their fifties, but considerably better than nothing, of course."

She said that as “a person with impaired mobility” she had never lived in an accessible home, with landlords in the private sector being under no obligation to make property adaptations.

Ms Ruth said: “Living in an inaccessible home means I can’t use a wheelchair, which means I’m trapped at home much of the time.

“There are many thousands of disabled people who are stuck in privately rented homes which are not adapted to their needs.”

Ms Ruth said if elected she would “push” for 150,000 new social homes a year, ending the ‘right to buy’ so “homes belong to communities forever”, ending no-fault evictions, and introducing a ‘greener’ warm home guarantee.

Population - Terence Longstaff, Reform UK's candidate for Colchester, said a rising population meant a lack of housing (Image: Submitted)

Terence Longstaff, Reform UK’s candidate for Colchester, said that the “increased population of the UK” means that there “simply aren’t enough dwellings to house everyone”, with immigration causing the population “to swell”.

Mr Longstaff said that according to the ONS, last year 25 per cent of births were to mothers who themselves were not born in the UK, adding: “Each of those families will need a home to raise that child."

He also said that “more rules” needed to be in place so that private landlords would not sell up which would reduce the number of properties available for rent.

Mr Longstaff also said he would build new council properties and renovate old stock, with properties being “in the control of the council” for only those in the local area.

He added: “This ensures that outside influences, such as commuters moving up from London, have minimal effect on stock.”

Mr Longstaff also said he would “remove government payments” to private landlords to pay for the housing of “illegal immigrants” who should not be housed to the “detriment to local people”.

He also said he would introduce pricing legislation so landlords face penalties for making “excessive profits from rentals”, saying those who have used a buy-to-let mortgage “must take some of the payment burden” when their property equity increases.

James Rolfe, the Climate Party's Candidate for Colchester was asked for a comment. 

Standing in Colchester in the upcoming General Election are James Cracknell (Con), Pam Cox (Lab), Martin Goss (Lib Dem), Terrence Longstaff (Reform UK), James Rolfe (Climate Party) and Sara Ruth (Grn).