Critics slam Sadiq Khan’s rent control proposals

London mayor Sadiq Khan’s call for the introduction of rent controls in London have been described as “laughable” and “idiotic” by critics.

Proposals in a new report, Reforming Private Renting: The Mayor of London’s Blueprint, published by the mayor’s office last week included establishing a London Private Rent Commission “to implement and enforce measures to reduce rents and keep them at lower levels”.

Khan said it was “high time” for private renting to be overhauled.

“Unlike other mayors around the world, I have no powers over the private rented sector. That’s why this landmark report sets out a detailed blueprint of what the government must do to overhaul tenancy laws, and what powers city hall needs from them to bring rents down,” he added.

The mayor’s report has called for the creation of a universal register of private landlords which would be monitored by a new London Private Rent Commission, which would also come up with incentives to encourage investment in new and existing rental housing supply.

But critics accused the mayor of potentially worsening the situation for renters in the private sector.

Marc von Grundherr, director of estate agency Benham & Reeves agreed something needed to be done to address the issues surrounding the London rental market, “but to attempt to remedy said problems through a freeze on rents isn’t far short of idiotic”.

Von Grundherr said Khan was demonstrating “a real lack of understanding when it comes to the rental sector and wider property market.

“To further deter landlords from the rental space by restricting the income available, having already hit them where it hurts via a ban on tenant fees, stamp-duty hikes, and tax changes, will only see a reduction in stock and further inflame the issues that we are currently seeing.”

Co-founder of room share platform ideal flatmate, Tom Gatzen went further, calling Khan’s proposal “frankly laughable … and one that reeks of desperation.

“During his time in power, his severe failure to deliver on the number of new homes promised has contributed massively towards an over-reliance on the London rental sector. This demand has pushed rental prices up further and the capital’s tenants are the ones that have paid the price.

“We’ve already seen the detrimental impact an ill-thought-out ‘tenant first’ policy can have on the market in the wake of the tenant fee ban, with many letting agents and landlords increasing rents to recoup lost income,” Gatzen added.

Business membership group London First also weighed in, saying that while the mayor was right to focus on improving the private rented sector the answer lay in “redoubling efforts to build more homes, not making it harder, through rent controls, to secure new investment in house building”.

The mayor’s office said Khan’s programme had started 14,544 affordable homes in 2018/19, exceeding the target agreed with government of 14,000, and was on track to achieve the target agreed with government to start 17,000 homes in 2019/20 and 116,000 affordable homes by 2022.