“This is kids playing politics stuff… It’s economically illiterate…They need to go back to school and learn how economics actually works.”
The Green Party has formally adopted a policy calling for the “effective abolition of private landlordism”, in a move that party leaders say will tackle the housing crisis but critics have condemned as economically destructive.
Delegates at the party’s autumn conference in Bournemouth on Sunday voted in favour of a motion pledging to make the “abolition of landlords” an official goal.
Under the plan, tenants would gain first right of refusal to buy their rented homes when sold, with the total rent they had already paid deducted from the purchase price and government-backed loans available to help fund the purchase. Local councils would have a secondary right to buy properties if tenants decline.
The policy package also includes the introduction of rent controls, the abolition of the Right to Buy scheme for council tenants, and a ban on buy-to-let mortgages.
The text of the motion claimed landlords add “no positive value to the economy or society” and that “the relationship between landlord and tenant is inherently and intrinsically extractive and exploitative.”
Activists also voted for a series of related reforms, including a land value tax on property owners, National Insurance contributions on rental income, and making all rental contracts long-term tenancies that can only be ended by the tenant. Those who operate short-term lets, such as Airbnbs, would be subject to business rates, while owners of empty homes would face double taxation.
Party figures hope the measures would lead to a major expansion of council housing. “It contains a range of policies which, over time, would reduce the proportion of the housing market that is privately rented, and increase the proportion of socially rented homes,” Ms Denyer said.
However, the motion has triggered backlash both inside and outside the party.
Shahrar Ali, a former deputy leader of the Greens, said the proposal “unfortunately reads like a communist manifesto”.
“It’s a sledgehammer to crack a nut and wrongly assumes all rental agreements or landlords are necessarily exploitative,” he said. “At the heart of the policy is a desire to destroy any semblance of wealth creation generated by letting. Nowhere is this more obvious than the obligation upon landlords to sell to the tenant, themselves protected from eviction, and to treat the cumulative cost of their past rental as a down-payment towards total sale price. That’s double-counting fantasy economics, conflating rent with repayment mortgage, without a prior agreement to do so.”
One former Conservative MP, speaking to the Conservative Post, said the policy showed the Greens were “completely detached from economic reality”.
“This is kids playing politics,” the former Conservative MP said. “Do they not understand how businesses work? They’re effectively proposing to wipe out an entire sector that pays billions in taxes to fund the NHS, our roads and our schools. It’s economically illiterate. If you destroy private rental markets, you drive out investment, shrink housing supply and make the crisis even worse. The Lib Dems have gone mad before — now the Greens are joining them. They need to go back to school and learn how economics actually works.”
Carla Denyer, Green MP for Bristol Central and one of the party’s two co-leaders, sought to temper the interpretation of the policy.
“While the motion to conference had an eye-catching name, it does not actually ‘abolish’ landlords,” she said. “It does however address the housing crisis, empowers tenants and improves their wellbeing.”
The Green Party leadership has not yet confirmed when or how the proposals would be turned into draft legislation, should the party ever enter government, but supporters say the measures would represent a fundamental rebalancing of power between landlords and tenants.
