Petitioners plan to ask the council to support their campaign for rent controls by lobbying the new Labour government.
The Living Rent Campaign started a petition which was signed by almost 1,800 people and is due to be debated at a Brighton and Hove City Council meeting this week.
The campaigners are calling for rent controls on private homes and for more social housing to be let at living rents.
The petition, on the Change.org website, said that private rents for a three-bedroom flat in Brighton and Hove were about £1,700 a month and the average take-home wage about £2,250 a month.
The petition said:
“Private renting is unaffordable for many households yet, since 1989, when fair rent tenancies were replaced, national governments of all parties have been committed to ‘free market rents’.
“It could be different. Other countries in Europe have rent controls, lower rents and better-quality homes to rent.”
The petition also said: “Over two million council homes have been lost through the ‘right to buy’.”
The campaigners want on the council to write to ministers asking them to give councils the power to cap and reduce rents.
They also want the government to provide grants to councils to provide more homes at living rents and end the “right to buy”.
In Brighton and Hove, the Living Rent campaign, co-ordinated by former Green councillor David Gibson, has staged protests outside council meetings, including creating a bedroom outside Hove Town Hall.
The petition is due to be debated at a meeting of the full council at Hove Town Hall on Thursday (July 11). The meeting is scheduled to start at 4.30pm and to be webcast on the council’s website.
Appeal After Indecent Exposure Report In Polegate
Permission Sought To Demolish Former Hove Gym
Ofsted Gives Good Rating To Brighton school
Charity Calls For Clarity On Brighton And Hove Housing Targets
Three Arrests After High Speed Pursuit Near Seaford
Man Charged With Brighton Burglary Spree
Appeal After Cannabis Plants Discovered At Brighton Fire
Sainsbury's Faces Objections To Drinks Licence Application
£5,000 Funding Boost From Newhaven Enterprise Zone For Haven Young Creatives
London Gatwick Awards £30,000 To Good Causes In Sussex