London Assembly member calls for rent controls to protect private tenants

A City Hall politician has thrown her weight behind rent controls in London — branding the abandoning of them in England over the last few decades “a failed experiment”.

Zoë Garbett, a Green London Assembly member, made the remarks at a meeting she organised about how rent controls could operate in the capital, held at City Hall in Newham, East London on Tuesday 5 November. 

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan currently lacks the powers to impose rent controls in the private rented sector but has previously indicated he supports them. In 2019, he launched a report which said he would seek to establish a commission to design and implement an effective system of rent control.

However, Khan failed to bring the rent commission into being and the Labour leadership refused before the general election to support Khan’s plea for the power to introduce rent controls in London.

Recognising the urgency of London’s housing crisis, Garbett decided to set up the London Rent Commission to provide a “proof-of-concept” in the absence of one led by the Mayor.

Panellists on the commission included representatives from Shelter, Generation Rent, New Economics Foundation, ACORN, and the London Renters’ Union. 

Garbett, who rents herself, told the meeting on Tuesday: “There were rent controls until 1988 and we could say we’ve had a failed experiment of not having rent controls. We now need to get back to having them.”

The meeting discussed what workable rent controls could look like in the capital and touched on subjects such as how to define rent levels and how to avoid a two-tier system of rents under any system.

Renters the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) spoke to on Tuesday said they supported the idea of restrictions on rents.

Charlotte Harris, 29, who pays £925 per month for a shared flat in Haringey, North London said over half of her salary currently went on rent and bills.

She said: “I support rent controls. There are controls on other essentials such as water, energy and even bus fares so why would it follow that something as essential as a roof over your head shouldn’t be capped and controlled? 

“I work full time in social services and I work hard for the money I earn. More than half of my monthly income goes on rent on bills. I don’t live anywhere extravagant and I have no option of living on my own as I head into my 30s.” 

Raj, 30, who declined to give his surname, said between 40 and 45 percent of his wage went on the monthly rent for a two-bed flat where he lives in Southwark, South London with his partner.  

He said: “[Our] rent was hiked from £1,600 to almost £2,000 in April last year, an almost 25 percent rent increase and that’s eating into my income and eating into my savings. I find it difficult. I’m able to survive generally but I save barely anything. 

“I’m strongly in favour of rent controls. A lot of major European cities have them. The present system is pricing people out. It’s bad on an individual basis if you want stability and want to set-up a life where you are. 

“If you’re going to be threatened by a rent hike, you have the chance of being forced out and not having the security you require from your housing.”

Michaell Keating, a renter and member of Acorn Southwark, a community union that campaigns on housing issues, said: “[There] is the sense that [rents] can’t get any higher and they always seem to. It’s at the point where it’s squeezing people out of places. 

“Huge rents are a massive cause of displacement. I have seen more and more families leaving the city because of them. There’s a feeling that this can’t keep going on or it’s going to hollow out the city completely.” 

In a statement released after the meeting, Garbutt said: “I am tremendously proud of the people — specifically the renters — who spoke up in support of rent control from City Hall today.

“We know homelessness is increasing, we know 95 percent of low-income households can’t afford private rentals, and we know more and more houses are overcrowded. Rent control can’t keep being just a talking point — it needs to be in the Mayor’s housing policy.

“I sincerely hope the Mayor is inspired by my commission, which proves that such a body is both possible and productive. Founding his own rent commission would not only fulfil a campaign promise, but assure Londoners, desperate for a solution to our city’s housing crisis, that their Mayor is ready to act.”

Garbett says she will put Commission’s findings directly to the Mayor of London at his next Question Time on 21 November 2024.

Additional reporting by Linus Rees.

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