Labour report calls for rent caps to tackle growing housing crisis

Rent rises should be capped for millions of people struggling to afford soaring rates, according to a report commissioned by Labour.

- Aletha Adu

The leaked proposals recommend a range of measures that give breathing room to renters buckling under the cost of living.

The report will put pressure on Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, to do more for renters after he promised to tackle England's housing crisis if elected as prime minister, in part with a massive programme of socially rented housebuilding.

The report author Stephen Cowan's stabilisation model proposes a "double lock" for those renewing tenancies, guaranteeing rises are capped at either consumer price inflation or local wage growth whichever is lower - across England and Wales.

Starmer's deputy, Angela Rayner, has also promised to scrap no-fault evictions, as previously promised by the Conservatives but then kicked into the long grass.

But Labour is also cautious about doing anything the Tories could attack as being overly left wing, and conscious of warnings from experts that rent controls can discourage developers from building new houses and therefore make the crisis worse.

The independent report will  disappoint some campaigners who have called for tougher action, including rent freezes or limits on rises imposed by landlords in between tenancies. It warns these could make it harder to find a rental property, further pushing up prices.

Cowan also recommends that rents can be increased only once a year, with tenants receiving at least four months' notice of any increase. He also believes rent review clauses - which give landlords the scope to raise rents mid-contract should be banned. Both of these measures, however, are in the government's housing bill.

Labour has cautiously welcomed the report, which was commissioned by Lisa Nandy when she was shadow housing secretary, but the party distanced itself from the findings, saying they do not reflect its official view.