Policy is divisive within housing sector
Rachel Reeves is reportedly considering a one-year rent freeze rents in the private rental sector to address the impact on voters’ living costs amid the Iran war crisis.
According to reports in several national newspapers, time-limited measures to prevent rent rises are being debated within the government as part of a broader cost of living package.
Rent controls have long been advocated by some housing and homelessness charities, the Green Party, as well as mayor of London Sadiq Khan, and it is in the process of being introduced in Scotland.
However critics say it disincentivises landlords from improving properties and discourages developers from building additional rental stock.
The government itself has resisted calls for caps on rents, with housing minister Matthew Pennycook earlier this month speaking in parliament to reiterate his opposition.
He said there was “sufficient international evidence from countries such as Sweden and Germany, and from individual cities such as San Francisco, as well as the recent Scottish experience, to attest to the potential detrimental impacts of rent controls on tenants.”
Pennycook said controls typically benefit “settled and better-off tenants more than those looking for a home or needing to move.”
The Treasury and Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government have been contacted for comment.
No comments yet