US Edition 
Rents rising more than twice as fast as living costs
Rents have risen by 80pc since 1998, while prices generally have increased by just 38pc, campaign group says
Private tenants' complaints about feeling financially squeezed are nothing new.
But new analysis has shown if rents had risen in line with living costs over the past 15 years they would be in the luxurious position of being able to afford to work a four-and-a-half-day week – instead of five.
The latest official data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows how since 1998 their rents have risen more than twice as fast as living costs. The median private rent has risen from £71 a week to £128, an increase of 80pc, while the consumer prices index, which measures the cost of living, has risen by 38pc.
According to campaign group Generation Rent, if the median rent had risen by the same amount it would now be only £98.28 a week, saving the typical renter household £1,546 a year – equivalent to an extra half day of work every week.
Over the same period salaries have risen by 48pc, lagging rents again, but this time by around a third.
In aggregate, tenants would have saved £7.9bn a year had rents risen only in line with inflation.
Betsy Dillner, director of Generation Rent, said: “A home is a basic human need, so politicians should be doing what they can to bring its cost down. Instead, rent inflation has outstripped prices in the wider economy and renters are working three hours every week to pay for politicians’ neglect.
"By controlling rents and building more houses, the Government could put more money into the economy and give people a better work-life balance.
“Older voters have convinced politicians to give even the wealthiest pensioners £817.90 in benefits every year. Many of those pensioners would much rather their kids had homes that were decent enough to raise a family in.”
However, a TUC report published this week found that young people's prospects would not be improved by cutting pensioner benefits to fund more public spending on young people.
Instead it suggested that increasing the supply of new housing would reduce the average price of homes for younger households, as well as reducing average rents for younger households in the private rented sector. This, it argued, would increase their ability to save up for a deposit.