Labour is today announcing what may be amongst the most far-reaching reforms of the lettings sector ever seen - if the party wins the general election in 2015.
Ed Miliband is making the announcement at the launch of his party's European election campaign.
He will promise to introduce a ceiling on rent increases and will ban letting agents from demanding fees from tenants that can be as much as £500.
"Generation rent is a generation that has been ignored for too long. Nine million people are living in rented homes today, over a million families and over two million children. That is why a Labour government will take action to deliver a fairer deal for them, too" Miliband will say today.
The policy will have three main planks:
1. There will be three-year tenancy agreements beginning with a six-month probationary period allowing landlords to evict a tenant if they are in breach of their contract. This would then be followed by a two-and-a half-year term in which tenants would be able, as they are now, to terminate contracts after the first six months with one month's notice.
2. There will be a ban on what Miliband will today call "excessive rental increases". Labour says it will be guided by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, which is examining options for a new rent benchmark. This could be linked to average rent rises or inflation or a combination of the two.
3. Labour will ban letting agents from charging tenants fees for low level services, such as simply signing a tenancy agreement. They will instead have to ask landlords for fees.
"One of the biggest causes of the cost of living crisis in our country is the price of renting or buying a home. People simply can't afford it, they're priced out, saving for a deposit year after year, decade after decade, or having to look for somewhere to live further and further away from where they go to work or where the kids have always gone to school" Miliband will say.
These proposals will be a major talking point within the lettings industry; Liberal Democrat proposals for the PRS are expected to be outlined over the summer.
In the meantime, the Conservative party has already responded to Miliband's proposals, saying they are akin to those in state-controlled Venezuela.