Polanski to Push for Three-Year Freeze on Private Rents at Green Party Conference

Green Party leader Zack Polanski will use his party's annual conference to unveil a proposal for a three-year emergency brake on private rent increases, positioning housing affordability as a central battleground in the debate over generational fairness.

In a speech scheduled for Friday afternoon at the gathering in Brighton, Polanski will urge the government to cap private rent rises at whichever is lowest among the consumer price index measure of inflation, wage growth, or 2 percent, for a period of three years. The policy would effectively freeze rents in real terms during that window, giving tenants what the party describes as vital breathing space while ministers develop a longer-term solution.

The Green leader is expected to argue that successive governments have allowed landlords to push rents far beyond what tenants can reasonably afford, forcing millions of households to cut back on essentials simply to keep a roof over their heads. According to prepared remarks, he will highlight how people across multiple generations are affected, from teenagers commuting long distances to university because they cannot afford to move out, to young professionals unable to take jobs in expensive cities, and even to people in their mid-thirties moving back in with their parents alongside their partners.

Under the proposal, the temporary cap would serve as a bridge toward a permanent national Fair Rents Guarantee, which the Greens say would keep rents affordable over the long term. The party has long campaigned for rent controls, arguing that the private rental market has become increasingly unaffordable for ordinary workers.

The conference comes at a moment of significant momentum for the Greens, who are billing the Brighton gathering as their largest ever. Earlier this year the party announced that its membership had tripled since Polanski's election as leader just over a year ago, reflecting a surge in support that has reshaped the party's position in British politics.

That growth has translated into electoral success. The Greens gained hundreds of council seats in England's local elections earlier this year, and secured a fifth MP, Hannah Spencer, in the Gorton and Denton by-election. However, recent polling suggests the party's national rise may have stalled in recent months, raising questions about whether the surge can be sustained.

The political landscape has also shifted since Andy Burnham became Labour leader and prime minister. Under Burnham, Labour has adjusted its position on several issues where it had been in danger of being outflanked by the Greens, including a move toward electoral reform, a closer future relationship with the European Union, sanctions on Israeli West Bank settlements deemed illegal under international law, and the reopening of a refugee resettlement scheme.

Polanski is expected to claim credit for those shifts, arguing that electoral pressure from his party has forced Labour into a change of political direction on key issues. Rachel Millward, the party's co-deputy leader, said in an interview ahead of the conference that Labour was now rhetorically on much more similar ground to the Greens, though she stopped short of suggesting the two parties were fully aligned.

On the question of rent controls, Millward pushed back against critics who warn such measures could distort the housing market. She told BBC Breakfast that most landlords were super-earners who were making more money than other sectors and would be able to absorb a slight reduction in rent. Her comments echo a long-standing Green argument that the private rental sector can bear modest restraints without collapsing.

Not everyone shares that assessment. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has previously warned that rent controls would result in unintended consequences, including demand exceeding supply in the rental market. Economists broadly caution that capping rents can discourage investment in new housing and lead landlords to exit the market, potentially worsening shortages over time.

The government has already taken steps to reform the rental sector. Earlier this year it brought in the Renters' Rights Act, which limits landlords to increasing rent only once a year and only up to the property's open market rate. The legislation also shifted tenancies to rolling rather than fixed-term contracts and made it harder for landlords to evict tenants. According to the Office for National Statistics, average UK monthly private rents rose by 3.5 percent to £1,377 in the twelve months to January 2026.

Polanski is expected to argue that the Act, while welcome, does not go far enough in ending the fear and uncertainty felt by millions of private renters across the country. For the Greens, housing is not merely a policy area but a symbol of a wider generational divide, in which younger people face mounting obstacles to stability and independence.

The timing of the conference presents a practical challenge for Polanski, who is standing for the Greens in next week's Holborn and St Pancras by-election, triggered by Sir Keir Starmer's decision to leave Parliament. He said last week that he intends to return straight to the central London seat after delivering his leader's speech, and has even encouraged party activists to leave the conference over the weekend to help campaign.

A victory in Holborn and St Pancras would give the Greens their first seat in the capital, but it would require overturning a substantial Labour majority from the 2024 general election. The contest is widely seen as a test of whether the Greens can convert national polling momentum into success in a traditional Labour stronghold.

As the party gathers in Brighton, delegates will grapple with how to respond to Labour's shift under Burnham, how to sustain membership growth, and how to present a coherent alternative on issues from housing to electoral reform. Polanski's rent cap proposal is likely to dominate the headlines, but it also sets up a broader argument about what the Greens stand for as they seek to consolidate their position as a serious force in British politics.