Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has had recent discussions with relevant stakeholders on introducing rent controls at a local authority level.

The government has been clear it does not support rent controls and has not discussed their introduction at a local authority level.

We believe that rent controls could make life more difficult for private renters, both in terms of incentivising landlords to increase rents routinely up to a cap where they might otherwise not have done, and in pushing many landlords out of the market, thereby making it even harder for renters to find a home they can afford.

The Renters’ Rights Bill will empower private rented sector tenants to challenge unreasonable within-tenancy rent increases.