Labour MP Chris Hinchliff has led a group of MPs in urging Housing Secretary Angela Rayner to consider introducing rent controls as part of the Government’s response to the cost of living and housing crises.
In a letter dated 25 August, Hinchliff and fellow parliamentarians point to new research from Autonomy and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation examining options for limiting rent increases while addressing some of the concerns commonly raised about rent control policies.
The North East Hertfordshire MP argues that while the Government’s housebuilding programme is essential to fixing the housing system over the long term, renters need more immediate protection from high and rising rents.
The letter says:
“These exorbitant rents are the elephant in the room when we talk about the cost of living.”
It adds that 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”, but warns that renters “are feeling the pain of high rent today and rent controls are essential to easing that pressure”.
The MPs say average rent now takes around 36 per cent of a renter’s salary, rising to almost half of earnings in some areas simply to keep a roof over their heads.
They also point to wider economic consequences, arguing that when more household income is absorbed by rent, families have less money to spend in local shops, restaurants and other businesses.
The letter highlights three options contained in the report Rebalancing the market: Designing feasible rent controls.
One proposal would cap annual rent increases at CPI inflation, which the report estimates could save tenants across England a total of £1.1 billion by 2031.
A second option would impose a nominal rent freeze, holding rents at 2027 levels and producing estimated savings of £14.55 billion for tenants by 2031.
The third, described as a moderate rent control, would cap increases within tenancies at CPI while limiting rent rises between tenancies to CPI plus two percentage points. The report estimates that approach could save tenants £6.9 billion by 2031.
The MPs also highlight accompanying proposals for landlords, including restoring full mortgage-interest deductibility and applying National Insurance contributions to landlords’ property income.
Hinchliff argues that the combination could provide immediate relief for renters while creating a more balanced package of reforms.
The letter says:
“By increasing the disposable incomes of millions of renters across the country, these policies will also boost the economy in every postcode with more spent in high street businesses.”
The MPs urge Rayner and the Government to consider the report’s evidence and begin the process of introducing rent controls.
They argue that successive governments have allowed the cost of essentials to rise too far, leaving households exposed to markets “set up to extract as much as possible from them”.
The letter concludes:
“The Government has an opportunity to fix the foundations of our housing system for the long term, while acting urgently to stop rising rents continuing to erode living standards.”
Alongside Hinchliff, signatories include Paula Barker, Richard Burgon, Carla Denyer, Cat Eccles, Clive Lewis, John McDonnell, Simon Opher, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Nadia Whittome, Siân Berry, Ellie Chowns, Paul Davies, Kim Johnson, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Iqbal Mohamed, Kate Osborne, Hannah Spencer, Ian Byrne, Jeremy Corbyn, Neil Duncan-Jordan, Ian Lavery, Rachael Maskell, Grahame Morris, Adrian Ramsay and Jon Trickett.
The intervention adds to pressure on ministers to consider measures that would provide more immediate relief to private renters alongside Labour’s longer-term drive to build more social and affordable homes.
