News
Minister confirms government will not consider rent controls in England
Wednesday 16th November 2022
Private rented sector figures will no doubt welcome a commitment from housing minister Felicity Buchan that the government is not considering rent controls in England.
The mayor of London has this week reiterated calls for an immediate rent freeze in the capital as average rental prices in the city are more than double that in other UK areas, while Scotland has already frozen rents.
Sadiq Khan announced earlier this week that he would host an emergency summit over the challenges facing renters in the city, echoing previous calls for a two-year rent freeze.
The latest figures from Rightmove show that London's average advertised rent is £2,343 a month, £1,000 more than that in the South West and £1,564 than in the North East.
Polling by YouGov shows that four in 10 renters in London are likely to struggle to make their rent payments in the next six months. But the government says that the negatives outweigh the positives when it comes to rent controls.
Delivering her first speech as a housing minister to the National Residential Landlords Association's (NRLA) annual conference, Buchan confirmed that the government does not support rent controls, warning that such a policy would lead to "disinvestment in the sector, which is not good for anyone".
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