Updates and impact
Campaigning for fairer renting: our Shelter partnership, one year on
Published date: 15 August 2024
Guest blog
It's been five years since the last government promised to introduce the Renters Reform Bill. Yet for private renters, nothing has changed. That's why Shelter and The Co-operative Bank are campaigning together to demand the long-overdue reforms that could transform renting for good.
One year after joining forces, Catherine Douglas, Chief People Officer at The Co-operative Bank reflects on what we have achieved together over the last 12 months.
Our partnership
In 1992, The Co-operative Bank took the pioneering step to become the first UK bank to launch an Ethical poll, giving our customers a say on the issues that are important to them, and how we, as their bank, can help. Their responses form the basis of our Ethical Policy, shaping our ethical commitments and detailing the way in which we will use customer’s money to campaign for the causes they support.
In our latest customer poll, our customers told us they wanted us to take action to make society fairer; taking a stand against poverty and inequality and campaigning for real, positive change. Our customers have told us that they want us to work with organisations that work to tackle the ever-growing problem of homelessness, and the lack of affordable housing that affects people and local communities all across the UK. Our Charitable Fund, which commits a proportion of our profits to drive positive social and environmental change, enables us to work with those organisations to create impact in our communities.
In 2023, we were proud to use our Charitable Fund to launch our partnership with Shelter. Together, and alongside our customers and colleagues, we’ve been campaigning to demand a fairer private renting system; one that ends unfair evictions and unsafe housing, and secures stronger rights for all renters.
For over a year now, we’ve been standing together with Shelter to drive meaningful, societal change to call for the introduction of robust legislation that addresses the broken private renting system. Millions of renters across the country are in dire need of a system that takes their rights seriously and that doesn’t allow for loopholes which can be exploited at the expense of their rights.
Our campaign impact
We know that actions speak louder than words. That’s why last summer we joined Shelter in Westminster, to amplify the voices of our supporters and customers. Shelter’s research found that throughout 2023, approximately 172 families are served with an eviction notice every day, through no fault of their own. This was a shocking finding, that we knew could have been addressed through much-needed legislation.
Together, we covered Parliament Square in 172 moving boxes; one for every family that faced housing insecurity every day, and that didn’t have a safe and secure place to call home. Not only did this attract the attention of the many passers-by, but we also engaged with MPs and housing leaders; those who can really make a difference.
In September last year, we funded the Tenants and Landlords survey, commissioned by Shelter, which revealed the unimaginable suffering of marginalised groups whose housing insecurity had only been made worse by discrimination they’d faced in the private rented sector.
Many renters face inequality based on their sexuality, race, gender, because of their disabilities and even because of their age. After years of working and contributing to society, older people should be able to live with in confidence that they have security and safety in their home , yet the survey found that every day 90 renters aged 55+ are served a no-fault eviction – that’s an older person every 16 minutes being uprooted from their home.
Following our trip to Parliament Square, we joined Shelter for a visit to the (then) Prime Minster, Rishi Sunak’s constituency to tell him David’s story. With a baby on the way, safety and security was what they needed, but rather than that, David and Samira were served a section 21 no-fault eviction notice for complaining about the damp and mould. We projected David and Samira’s appeal to the government onto Richmond Castle for everybody to see.
In May this year, we were proud to stand with Shelter as they delivered over 138,000 signatures to the government to demand a strong bill that would positively change renting for the better. Those signatories included our colleagues and customers, who stand with us to demand change.
Join us
As we reflect on the last year in partnership with Shelter, we are proud of what we have achieved. We’ve used our voice, and amplified the voices of our colleagues and customers to stand up for change that is so desperately needed, taken action by signing petitions, and raised money for Shelter’s causes through fundraising events like the London Marathon.
Under the former government, the Renters Reform Bill, which we hoped could change the game, was watered down to a point where it had failed to meet renters’ needs, and no longer promised any real reform. However, we remain hopeful that the new government can deliver the change that is needed to really transform the rights of renters. We were encouraged to see the Renters Rights Bill included in the new government’s inaugural King’s Speech and we’ll watch and wait to see what change this could bring about.
But we know that our work isn’t finished, and we won’t give up. Together with Shelter, we will keep fighting for change, for fairer renting for all, and for a housing system that works for everyone.
Join us, and help us win change for renters, or find out more about our partnership with Shelter.