Labour MP David Lammy has called for the introduction of rent controls in London to solve the current housing problem and ensure essential workers can live in the city.
Writing in the New Statesman magazine, Lammy said that "it has become patently obvious that London needs some form of rent control".
He writes: "Let me be clear about what I mean when I talk about rent control. I don't mean the old-school 'first generation' rent control that was introduced in the UK during the Great War, which prevents any increase in rents, diminishes investment returns in real-terms over time, and discourages people from becoming landlords.
"I don't mean the type of rent control that keeps rents so low that they are not enough to pay for the proper maintenance of a home in a liveable condition.
"I mean rent controls that nod to the market but allow for the realities of what it is to have a home to live in; the type that are espoused by those who could hardly be called left-wing ideologues, including Angela Merkel and Michael Bloomberg."
He cites the German system of rent controls as a model to follow where renters have "indefinite tenancies; a tenant can only be evicted for non payment of rent (over a number of months), damage to the property, unauthorised subletting, or to allow the landlord or a member of his or her family to live in the home or to sell the home. It is in the interests of a landlord to retain their current tenant because the costs of letting agents are borne by the landlord.
"The initial rent is set by the market, but cannot be more than 20 per cent higher than similar properties in the area. Rents can be raised according to inflation or due to an increase in the landlord's costs, but by no more than 20 per cent in any three-year period.
"Further, proper maintenance of the property by the landlord is incentivised; a tenant only pays 100 per cent of the rent if the home is in 100 per cent good condition. Perhaps a system like Germany's is exactly what London needs to address the uncertainty and unaffordability faced by tenants in our private rented sector."
Lammy said he believed such a system would not impact on investment in the private rented sector.
Comments
a tenant can only be evicted for non payment of rent (over a number of months), damage to the property, unauthorised subletting, or to allow the landlord or a member of his or her family to live in the home or to sell the home. It is in the interests of a landlord to retain their current tenant because the costs of letting agents are borne by the landlord
That seems somewhat in contradiction to many councils trying to hold landlords accountable for both the immigration status of their tenants, and any anti social behaviour that results from those tenancies.
Is it just me that the words cake and eat it occur to
London rental prices are coming down.