London mayor Boris Johnson has hit back at election rival Ken Livingstone’s plans for rent controls, saying they would be ‘devastating’ and claiming that no mayor would even have the powers to implement them.
But Johnson has his own plans for the private rented sector, including a new London Rental Standard, a London-wide scheme accreditation scheme for all private landlords.
The Mayor of London will have new powers over housing under the Localism Act, but both sets of proposals drew fire from a leading landlords’ organisation.
While Livingstone plans to introduce rent caps in the form of a ‘living rent’, Johnson wants to introduce a ‘rent map’ to give tenants more information on fair rents in their local area.
A spokesperson for the Mayor said: “The proposal of rent controls would be devastating for the sector. Rent controls were ended in the UK because they were counter-productive.
“Whatever the ideological appeal, the mayor does not have the power to introduce them, and even if he did, they would be devastating for the construction industry.
“It would result in fewer homes being built and lead landlords to invest less in stock. Other major international cities such as New York are removing rent controls for precisely these reasons.”
The Mayor’s housing strategy, which was revised in August, contains proposals to accredit private landlords, help first-time buyers and tackle overcrowding.
Alan Ward, chairman of the Residential Landlords Association, was severely critical of both Livingstone’s and Johnson’s proposals.
He said: “Livingstone’s call for rent controls is an old idea that never worked in the past. Until 1988, rent controls resulted in a shortage of supply and poorer conditions for tenants. Hardly a remedy for 2012.
“There is no doubt that rents in the capital remain far higher than anywhere else in the country, but the answer lies in improved supply.”
Ward said of Johnson’s ideas: “With over 10,000 landlords in London already members of the London boroughs’ accreditation scheme, it would seem a waste of time and money re-inventing the wheel in this way.
“The Mayor should focus on supporting and encouraging existing accreditation schemes, freeing his office up better to target the minority of landlords who bring the sector into disrepute.
“This should be matched by a programme of serious tenant education, providing tenants with all the information needed to better hold their landlords to account for the service they provide.
“It beggars belief that some people spend more time assessing the state of a car they wish to buy than the homes they seek to rent.”
Comments
of course had they not bailed out the housing market,the species known as youth would be able to buy the repossessed btl portfolios of landlords.
prices are falling anyway...whats going to happen when they eventually fall to levels where banks lend ftbs 90-100% mortgages
whose gonna rent when they can buy?
what then for buy to let?
if you have a market economy let markets work
Actually the answer is very much reduced immigration and a cap on overseas investors in our land. Far too many in London anyway, the place is like a heaving ant heap, just dreadful.
Boris's plans are more realistic than Ken's who has simply lost it.
London landlords are sitting on massive capital gains as a result of international demand and the success of the city financial sector. Many areas of London are now only affordable to foreign expats and, bizarrely, welfare claimants.
Some form of rent control to benefit working people is tolerable and would bring the London private rented sector in line with the rest of the Uk market.
Despite being a landlord myself, I'm partly with Ken on this one
I dream of a day when a Government would implement that sort of education, but I suspect we'd all be accused of 'tenantism' if we even suggested it.
The danger here is in some of the terminology. For example by a "fair rents map" does Boris (or his spokesman) actually mean a market rents map?
Ray I agree with the sentiment but the education needs to be complete. Never mind eductating tenants how to "better hold their Landlords to account" perhaps this programme could also better educate tenants to their responsibilities and obligations as well.
Rent control is a non starter, who in their right mind would want to see a resurrection of something like Rent Act tenancies which is what Ken is really proposing. Thats the reason why there was such a shortage in the late 80's, private landlords got out of it because it was so onerous.
Boris is sort of on the right track; but as Alan Ward says, don't waste money reinventing the wheel, just repair the ones we have. A national education program is a great idea.
Red Ken has lost the plot and made Boris look eminently sensible.