In an exclusive with the Sunday Mirror Sir Keir Starmer pledged Labour would create a national register of private rental sector landlords to protect ‘Generation Rent’.

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Labour’s Leader of the Opposition stated his party’s intention is to fully support a “talented generation” who are “left behind and forced to struggle” with rocketing rents on a ‘take it or leave it’ attitude from rogue landlords.

His pledge amongst many others came from a question and answer interview as hundreds of readers sent in questions on many topics including cost of living crisis, shopping and energy rising prices for Sir Keir and Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner.

Last year PM Rishi Sunak had to scrap the party’s forecasted housebuilding targets to stop back benchers from rebelling, but Labour has now pledged to bring back the necessary requirements for regions to agree developments that ‘mirror’ the local need to “build the homes young people aspire to own.”

Starmer told the Mirror: “There is a whole generation of young people, with dreams of homeownership, that now feel unattainable and unrealistic.

“Generation rent have been completely abandoned by this government. Left to attempt to cope through a cost of living crisis forcing them into endlessly spiralling costs, and too many unscrupulous landlords having the power to do what they want.”

He added: “There is no hiding the fact that rogue landlords do exist, and generation rent are left with little, and sometimes no measures to protect themselves. That is why I am committed to introducing a national register of landlords, allowing us to crack down on the people taking advantage of the system."

He added: “The Labour Party won’t stand by while a whole ambitious and talented generation are left behind and forced to struggle. My Labour government will get a grip of it so their hard work rightly allows them to get on.”

The current Register of Rogue Landlords only lists landlords that have been issued with banning orders by their local councils which Labour intends to replace with a new landlord register.

Labour is appalled at the government’s decision to dispense with housebuilding targets and slams it by saying it kills off ambition and traps "generation rent" in ever decreasing circles of rocketing rents with wages being left behind.

The party has vowed to hand first time buyers ‘first in queue’ on new houses in their community and pledging to stem the numbers of foreign buyers snapping up new housing developments. It has also promised to develop and introduce a new comprehensive mortgage guarantee scheme for those unable to afford a deposit.

Lisa Nandy MP, Shadow Housing Secretary, said: “Owning your home is not only about having a settled place to live, it’s about pride, reward for hard work, and security for your family.

“In rolling over to his own MPs, Rishi Sunak abandoned a whole generation of young people aspiring to own their own home. The dire consequences of his weakness are already being felt as the housing crisis deepens.

“Labour is proudly the party of homeownership. We’ll reverse these reckless changes and reintroduce requirements for local areas to make sure enough homes are being built where they’re needed. It isn’t right that hard working young people are being priced out of their areas, squeezed by rents, and having their ambition to buy a house taken from them.

“Labour will also actively support first-time buyers with a comprehensive mortgage guarantee scheme and by giving them first dibs on new houses in their area, to ensure far more families can enjoy the pride and security of owning their own home.”

Keir Starmer, added: “The Prime Minister’s inability to take on his Party means his weak, reckless, short sighted planning changes, leave generation rent in a headlock.

“We’ll reverse them and enforce requirements on local areas to build in line with local need. My Labour Party won’t be shy about taking on speculators and nimbyism in the name of the next generation of homeowners.

“Our raft of measures – from setting locally led house building targets, to giving first time byers first dibs on developments – will support the aspiration of hard working young Brits and make their dream of home ownership a reality.”

“It is unlikely any party will look beyond their noses to see how they have been instrumental in contributing to the homelessness crisis with their targeted erosion of private rental housing stock.”