It would only take a short amount of time before Sadiq Khan, London’s Labour Mayor, backed his leader's call for rent controls.

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He has been for a long period of time demanding that the government gives him the necessary powers to introduce rent control throughout all London Boroughs.

Khan is now taking on the case of rent increases in Brent, with data from City Hall showing that since 2012, the average monthly rent in the borough has increased from to £1,200 to the present's £1,500 per month.

In a statement sent to all the capital's local media he is quoted as saying: "It is shocking that renters in Brent are now paying £3,600 more every year than they did just seven years ago - meaning more and more of their earnings go on rent, and making it harder for them to put down roots.

"Unlike other mayors around the world, I have no powers over the private rented sector. Despite this, we have worked closely with councils over the last three years to 'name and shame' rogue landlords, and I have campaigned successfully with renters to get the government to ban letting agents fees for tenants and scrap Section 21."

Unsurprisingly leading industry trade bodies and associations have condemned the Mayor's plans.

One trade body carried out a survey of 1,700 landlords with 89% saying that they will not vote for any party that pledges to introduce rent controls, and 85% said likewise if any party campaigns for scrapping section 21 will not win their vote.

The spokesperson for the trade body, said: “The Mayor’s strategy is at best contradictory and at worst deluded. Either he hasn’t researched how landlords’ businesses work, or he didn’t understand what he found. Or perhaps he did, and he just doesn’t care."

He continued by saying that these types of controls will cause major and significant problems for London's challenging rental sector. He said that landlords are leaving in their droves because of the government's legislative and tax changes.

He said: “If this trend continues, coupled with the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan’s recent pledge to introduce rent controls, it will only serve to make the situation worse for London’s renters as more landlords are forced to sell up. As the supply of rental accommodation falls further, tenants will face more competition for properties, which will push up rents on good-quality, well-managed properties, and leave the vulnerable and low-income people which rent controls are designed to help, in the hands of rogue and criminal operators.”