Polanski to call for three-year emergency brake on private rent rises at Green conference

Green Party leader Zack Polanski is due to call for a three-year "emergency brake" on private rent increases in his speech opening the party's conference in Brighton on Friday afternoon. 1 2 Under the proposal, private rents could not rise above whichever is lowest of CPI inflation, wage growth or 2% for three years. 1 The Evening Standard notes the metrics resemble those used for the state pension, which rises by the highest of inflation, wage growth or 2.5%, and reports that the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, announced changes to the pension triple lock at Labour's conference earlier this week. 2

Polanski is expected to say landlords have been able to "hike prices way beyond wages", and that the brake would give renters "vital breathing space" and give government time to develop a national Fair Rents Guarantee. 2 1 He will frame housing as an issue of generational fairness, describing young adults unable to find work or afford rent and 30- and 35-year-olds moving back in with their parents. 1 2 Official figures differ by period: the ONS said average UK monthly private rents rose 3.5% to £1,377 in the 12 months to January 2026, and 3.7% in the 12 months to July 2026; wage growth excluding bonuses was 3.5% between May and July. 1 2

The BBC says the government's Renters' Rights Act, brought in earlier this year, lets landlords raise rent only once a year to the open market rate, makes tenancies rolling and makes eviction harder, but Polanski is expected to argue it does not go far enough. 1 The BBC adds that the Institute for Fiscal Studies has previously warned that rent controls, which the Greens have long campaigned for, would have "unintended consequences" including demand exceeding supply. 1 The party calls the Brighton gathering its biggest ever, saying membership has tripled since Polanski became leader just over a year ago; it follows gains of hundreds of councillors and a fifth MP, Hannah Spencer, in the Makerfield by-election. 1

According to the party, Polanski will also argue that Green pressure has pushed Labour to change direction on some issues, such as sanctions on illegal West Bank settlements and reopening a refugee resettlement scheme; co-deputy leader Rachel Millward said Labour is now "rhetorically, on a much more similar ground" to the Greens. 1 Polanski is standing in next week's Holborn and St Pancras by-election, triggered by Sir Keir Starmer's decision to leave Parliament; he plans to return "straight back" after the speech and has urged activists to leave the conference over the weekend to help campaign. 1 The BBC says victory would give the Greens their first London seat but require overturning a large Labour majority, and that signs suggest the party's rise in national polls may have stalled. 1