ACORN’s Bristol branch has been making waves with the ‘Ban the Bids’ campaign.
Picture credit: Darren Shepherd
‘Bidding wars’ have become more commonplace in the city in recent years, as some landlords and letting agents encourage prospective renters to bid against each other over the advertised price. This is artificially inflating prices, forcing people to move away from their communities and exacerbating the housing crisis.
Since the campaign launched in December, 22 letting agents have signed our pledge to end the practice of ‘bidding wars.’
We've also achieved one of the other key goals of the campaign, getting the council to pass a motion condemning bidding wars and committing to look into all possible ways of banning it. This week we have also negotiated for the council’s head of housing to send a letter to every letting agent in the city urging them to commit to end bidding wars and to sign ACORN’s pledge.
In the coming weeks we'll be marching on letting agents across the city to let them know that ACORN members won't stay silent while they rip off renters for a quick profit.