Tenants will soon find it easier to save potentially thousands of pounds as Labour’s flagship rental reforms empower them to challenge rent increases proposed by landlords. Research from anti-poverty charity Z2K has found that renters who challenge their rent rises are on average £1,140 a year better off than they would be had they accepted the increase. In 71 per cent of applications for these ‘market rent determinations’ – which are decided by a tribunal – renters have been successful in securing a lower rent than what was proposed, the findings show. But despite this high success rate, only 1,000 cases have been dealt with over the past two years, representing a tiny fraction of the 5.5 million private rented households across the UK. In one case last year, a household in Hounslow that had been in the property was able to challenge an increase from £1,000 to £1,450 £450 a month by applying to the tribunal.…