Corbyn restates support for rent controls

Jeremy Corbyn today restated his supported for introducing rent controls as he addressed the Labour Party’s Autumn Conference in Brighton.
Setting out his key housing policies, Corbyn said:

“[W]e will control rents – when the younger generation’s housing costs are three times more than those of their grandparents, that is not sustainable.
Rent controls exist in many cities across the world and I want our cities to have those powers too and tenants to have those protections.”

While not going into detail on what exact controls Labour would seek to impose on rents, the wording hints at going further than previous policy to introduce caps on rent rises. Labour’s 2017 manifesto pledged to make three-year tenancies that include an inflation-cap on rents the norm.

The National Landlords Association (NLA) does not believe that imposing an arbitrary cap on rental levels would have the effect desired by Jeremy Corbyn and other proponents. Government intervention through rent controls would be counter-productive to encouraging supply at a time when it is so badly needed.

As recognised by the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee, access to an affordable housing market, which includes private rented properties, is crucial to labour mobility and the overall efficiency of the labour market. Any impediment to labour mobility will reduce employment, economic activity, and the economy’s long-run productive potential.

Rent control, or the artificial suppression of rents, may also serve as a barrier to further investment in the stock of private rented properties if the rent generated is too low to allow the landlord to operate a proper maintenance regime without making a financial loss.

Labour point to other cities, such as New York, that have rent controls but do not understand the impact said controls are having. As a2014 report commissioned by Camden Council on rent stabilisation by the LSE’s Kath Scanlon and Christine found:

“Evidence from New York and San Francisco, two high-demand US cities, shows that those living in rent-stabilised apartments generally remain for considerably longer than those living in units whose rents are not controlled. Nonetheless, it tends to be well-off households who benefit from the system, while those trying to enter the market face worse conditions than they otherwise would.”

Likewise, a report for the European Commission in 2014 found that:

Germany's system is often pointed to as an example to imitate but it has not quite been the success promised. As noted in IPPR's recent report, while median rent for a new tenancy fell in the months immediately following the rent brake introduction, they quickly climbed to the previous level and even exceeded it:

"Contrary to expections, in only one of the cities studied - Munich - had rents at the bottom end of the market fallen."

The system hit the headlines again recently as a court ruled the rent control law unconstitutional.

The NLA’s European partners, UIPI, have also looked at the negative impact of Danish rent control regulation on the growth and development of Danish society, as well as the effect on the economy and society that the Austrian rent control system has had.

According to the Institute of Economic Affairs, “[o]ne of the most consistent findings in economic research is that rent controls cause more problems than they solve.”

The NLA would therefore again urge that Labour back away from this economically illiterate policy.

If Labour does want to reduce rising rents, they should perhaps instead join our calls to reverse the damaging removal of finance cost relief for private landlords introduced by George Osborne.

Fit for Human Habitation

In his speech to Conference, the Labour Leader also pledged to ensure that every home is fit for human habitation:

“We will insist that every home is fit for human habitation, a proposal this Tory government voted down.”

Labour MP Karen Buck has this year reintroduced her Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Bill as a Private Member’s Bill, after it was previously defeated in 2015.

The NLA ishappy to support Ms Buck’s Bill, assuming it sets out to achieve the same goals as her previous attempt. We look forward to seeing the text of the Bill published in full in due course.

For more information about tax changes, visit www.landlords.org.uk