15th
May 2024
The Labour Party has confirmed that if it wins the General Election it will not introduce rent controls into the PRS.
A Labour party spokesperson was quoted in the Guardian newspaper this week on Tuesday 14th saying: “While we do believe action needs to be taken to protect renters and rebalance power, rent controls are not Labour party policy as we remain mindful of the risk they could pose to the availability of rental properties and the harmful impacts any reduction in supply would have on renters.”
The explicit statement is made in response to the report commissioned by Labour MP Lisa Nandy when acting as shadow housing secretary which was launched on Wednesday 15th at an event that apparently shadow ministers did not attend.
The report is from Stephen Cowan the leader of Hammersmith and Fulham council.
But the party spokesperson seems to suggest to The Guardian that the report does not represent any part of Labour’s formal policy if it receives the keys to No 10.
The ‘disclosed’ proposals featured in the paper includes the controversial introduction of rent controls using a system to cap rents at either local wage growth or consumer price inflation whichever increase is the lowest for England and Wales.
However The Guardian says Angela Rayner the current shadow housing secretary is more than likely going to reject this, as the party is “conscious of warnings from experts that rent controls could discourage developers from building new houses and therefore make the crisis worse.”
Cowan also proposes that rental increases can only be done once every year and tenants must be forewarned by at least a four months’ notice prior to the increase.
He also wants rent review clauses which allows landlords the right to increase rents mid-contract which must be banned.
The piece in the paper continues: "The Guardian understands that the report, led by Cowan, … will be launched on Wednesday without any shadow cabinet minister attending the event.”
Cowan himself says: “Renters have a right to know that their home will be safe and of good standard. And good landlords have a right to compete in a market where everyone plays by the same rules. These recommendations will enable those things to happen efficiently and quickly.”
It is a given that activist groups will be attending the launch of the report who will be very vocal about the ‘necessity’ of rent control and Tom Darling, of the Renters’ Reform Coalition, saying: “These appear to be a commonsense set of proposals for reforming the private rented sector.
“It will be critical that, if Labour is to win the general election, it gets on and delivers a package of reforms along these lines – and fast.
“That will deliver security of tenure for renters who, facing an acute and ever-growing renting crisis, have been so badly let down by the government.”
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