The chief executive of Peabody has argued reintroducing rent convergence would enshrine fairness and affordability and could actually lower the housing benefit bill rather than increase it as has been suggested by the government.

Ian McDermott, writing exclusively for Housing Today, has strongly re-iterated the case for re-introducing rent convergence – a policy which had allowed cheaper rents to rise more quickly to ensure alignment between rents on different properties. The scrapping of the policy in 2015 has been estimated by the G15 group of associations to have cost its members £2bn.