Renters’ Rights: The Divide Screening

7.30pm. £10 for private landlords/£5 for everyone else.

The Divide is a new documentary about the effects of economic inequality. 

2.3 million Londoners rent their homes from a private landlord. Unlike private landlords in Europe, the UK’s landlords face little regulation and can charge whatever they want in rent – even if the amount they charge leaves their tenants without enough for heating and food.

Housing is driving economic inequality on a scale never seen before. These days, more people own property outright than those who have a mortgage, and almost anyone with a mortgage can make a tenant pay it for them. It is becoming less and less likely that those stuck renting privately will ever own a home of their own – so they will retire having spent their lives buying a private asset for their landlord.

Renters’ Rights London is a project funded by Trust for London to raise the political and legal awareness of London’s 2.3 million private renters. It is hosting this screening of The Divide, a new documentary about the effects of economic inequality, a week before London elects a new Mayor and Assembly on 5 May. The film will be preceded by a discussion about housing and inequality in London, with Nicholas Bosetti from Centre For London.