Green Leader Polanski to Call for Rent Brake
Zack Polanski leads the Green Party of England and Wales. He is due to speak at the party's largest-ever conference.
He will call for a three-year emergency brake on private rent rises. Rent rises would be limited to the lowest of three figures.
These are consumer price inflation, wage growth or 2%. The formula is similar to the one used for the state pension.
The pension uses a different threshold. Polanski will frame housing as a key issue of generational fairness.
Private rents in the United Kingdom rose 3.7% over 12 months. That was the rise to July 2026.
Polanski said the Greens "have turned hope into electoral wins." He is running in next week's Holborn and St Pancras byelection. He wants to take Keir Starmer's former seat from Labour. Polanski called the contest "probably 50/50 right now." He said his authority as leader does not depend on winning.
Key Terms 3
- byelection A special vote held to fill a seat that became empty.
- consumer price inflation How fast the prices of everyday goods and services are rising.
- emergency brake A temporary limit meant to stop prices from rising too fast.