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 Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of introducing rent controls; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of doing so on Local Housing Allowance expenditure on private rent.

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.