A huge blow for the London Mayor Sadiq Khan as it is now unlikely he will ever be able to introduce rent controls after his years and years of campaigning and demanding to be given the power to do so.

Recent media speculative news reports indicates that the new government has seemingly claimed it will not be handing over powers to Metro Mayors to control rent prices.

The media reports that a spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has clearly stated that Housing Secretary Angela Rayner has “no plans whatsoever to devolve rent control powers”.

Earlier in the year prior to the General Election, Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer told the BBC funded Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that rent controls are not Labour’s “policy at the moment”, while acknowledging that “Sadiq feels strongly about this” and promising to “work together as we go forward”.

However Rayner’s department has forthrightly stated: “Fixing Britain’s housing crisis is one of our top priorities, and giving struggling renters more rights and security is an important issue for this government, but there have been no conversations with the Mayor of London about introducing rent controls.

Virtually twelve months ago Sadiq Khan and activist group Generation Rent hand in hand issued an appeal for rent controls across the capital, stating that “unchecked private rents in London could soar to upwards of £2,700 pcm next year.”

In their joint statement featuring Khan and Generation Rent’s Ben Twomey, the Mayor said: “These figures reveal the clearest picture yet of why rent controls are so necessary. Private renters make up nearly a third of everyone living in the capital, but they are being consistently let down by a Government that refuses to listen and take urgent action to protect them from even greater financial hardship. 

“Londoners re-elected me on a manifesto pledge to push for the powers to control rents and I will not stop advocating for this lifeline on their behalf. I am delivering on my promise to build a better, fairer and more prosperous London by building more affordable homes in the capital and providing vital support to Londoners through the cost-of-living crisis.”

Ben Twomey who was a former Labour candidate in Police Crime and Commissioner elections, added: “Spiralling rents are driving families into poverty and on to the streets. That is why we support the Mayor’s call for devolved powers to take action to stabilise rents. The average London renter is already putting 40 per cent of their wages straight into their landlord's pocket, and this situation shows no sign of improving on its own.

"Controlling rents doesn’t address the lack of homes that allows landlords to charge so much on new tenancies. To tackle that we also need a big increase?in the supply of social and affordable homes, and the Mayor is right to call for funding to build as much of this as possible in London. Without action, Londoners will continue to face sky-high rents which are forcing the likes of nurses and teachers out of the city and hollowing out our communities."

The Mayor also claimed that half of children – 49 per cent - living in private rented homes were living in abject poverty.

Richard Merrick of PIMS,said:” Starmer’s saying rent controls are not Labour’s policy in May but acknowledging that Khan is very pro and plans to ‘work together as we go forward’, is hardly reassuring.