Angela Rayner urged to U-turn on hire controls choice after research exhibits advantages
EXCLUSIVE: Dozens of MPs have written to Angela Rayner warning the Government that it has an ‘opportunity to fix the foundations of our housing system for the long term’
Housing Secretary Angela Rayner last month said the Government was not planning to bring in controls despite previous speculation(Image: Toby Shepheard/PA Wire)
Dozens of MPs have written to Angela Rayner urging her to U-turn on her decision not to bring in rent controls in England.
The Housing Secretary last month said the Government was not planning to bring in controls despite previous speculation.
But new research showing tenants could save up to £1,418 a year if rent controls are introduced has reignited calls.
The study, commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) and carried out by the Autonomy Institute, tests three rent-control pathways introduced from 2027/28: a cap linked to inflation (CPI), a nominal freeze and a moderate approach that limits in-tenancy rises to inflation (CPI) and between-tenancy rises to inflation (CPI) plus 2%.
By 2031, per tenancy, tenants would be annually saving £1,418 if rents were frozen, £701 if moderate rent controls were brought in or £130 if CPI inflation-tracked rent controls were introduced, researchers said. The rent-control pathways are modelled alongside two other reforms: restoring full mortgage-interest deductions for landlords and applying National Insurance to landlord property income.
The letter to Ms Rayner, organised by Labour MP Chris Hinchliff and signed by 26 MPs so far, backs the study and warns the Government it has an “opportunity to fix the foundations of our housing system for the long term”.
It says: “On average rent now takes 36% of a renter’s salary, rising to almost half of their pay in some areas just to keep a roof over their heads. With so much of people’s income going on housing, it is little wonder that a third of renters are living in poverty.
“The impacts don’t stop at the front door either, when rent take up such a large chunk of a pay packet you aren’t able to spend in local cafés, restaurants or shops.
“These extortionate rents are the elephant in the room when we talk about the cost of living. The Prime Minister is right to support a mass council housebuilding programme to lay the long-term foundations of a housing system based on meeting need. However, renters are feeling the pain of high rent today and rent controls are essential to easing that pressure.”
It is signed by mostly Labour MPs plus a few Green MPs, as well as Your Party MP Jeremy Corbyn.
In 2023, Mr Burnham – who was then the Greater Manchester mayor – called for freezes to private sector rents during the cost of living crisis.
But Ms Rayner told the BBC last month: “I don’t think that rent freezes, rent controls, is a way forward at the moment. Three years ago, Andy called for that because there was a significant crisis in the rental market. We implemented between then the Renters’ Rights Act which is giving renters more power and control.”
She added that controls had not “necessarily brought rents down” where they had been imposed in other places in the UK, such as Scotland. Other critics warn rent controls could increase the housing crisis by putting off people from renting out their house.
Nearly a fifth of UK households now rent privately, and high rents have strained living standards for two decades.
The new report, Rebalancing the market: Designing feasible rent controls, models the private rental sector from 2027 to 2031 using data from the 2024 English Private Landlord Survey and the latest Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts.
Dr Will Stronge, chief executive at the Autonomy Institute said: “Rent controls have often been dismissed as unworkable, but our modelling shows that a modern, well-calibrated cap paired with fair treatment of landlord costs can improve affordability for tenants without triggering the kind of landlord exodus that would leave renters worse off.
“Desperately-needed regulation of rents doesn’t pose a risk to the sector if it comes along with tax reform for landlords”
An MHCLG spokesman said: “We have no plans to introduce rent controls. International examples show they don’t necessarily bring rents down and our landmark Renters’ Rights Act already protects tenants from excessive rent increases. The Act limits rent rises to once a year, gives tenants strong powers to challenge above-market increases and bans rental bidding wars – giving renters the security they deserve.”
