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Mayor of London to develop rent control plans for capital
The mayor of London has set out plans to develop new proposals for rent control for private renters across the capital.
Sadiq Khan confirmed today he would put together a blueprint which would look at stabilising and controlling rents for the 2.4 million private renters across the city.
The move comes following a new poll which found that 68% of Londoners were in favour of capping the amount private landlords could charge tenants.
Mr Khan has invited Karen Buck, the MP behind the Homes (Fitness for Habitation) Bill, to work with James Murray, deputy mayor for housing and residential development, to flesh out proposals for rent control laws.
The Homes (Fitness for Habitation) Bill, which gives private and social tenants the right to take their landlords to court if the property falls below legal standards, was passed by parliament last month, with Ms Buck taking it all the way from a private members bill onto the statute books.
The mayor currently has no powers to implement rent control in London by himself but has vowed to campaign and lobby for the proposals to be accepted and implemented by the government.
Mr Khan said the arguments for rent control were “overwhelming” and that it was “vital the government acted to improve the quality of millions of lives”.
The percentage of Londoners now living in private rented accommodation in 2017 was 27%, up from 15% in 2000.
London renters have seen the amount they spend on rent rise dramatically in the past decade too, with private rents rising by an average of 38% between 2005 and 2016.
Ms Buck, Labour MP for Westminster North, said: “London’s private renters are among the worst affected by the housing crisis in the capital and the laws to protect them are woefully out of date.
“Once we have set out these proposals, we will argue the case that ministers must support London’s private renters by putting our plans into action.”
Rent controls are currently applied in a number of major cities across the world, including New York where the NYC Rent Guidelines Board caps rent for some apartments while other apartments have their rents stabilised between tenancies.
Scotland has recently introduced new laws that allows councils to apply “rent pressure zones” where rent increases are capped with inflation rates.
