A senior Conservative has made a surprise plea for a two year rent freeze in the private rental sector with no re-letting at a higher rent.

Natalie Elphicke – in an article on the Conservative Home website, which could be seen by some as a pitch for a job in the new government arriving next week – says she wants to see “a newly shaped Department for Housing and Households” which would “robustly challenge the total costs of household bills.”

It is a lengthy article covering a range of housing cost related issues.

But Elphicke – formerly chief executive of the Housing & Finance Institute, co-chair of a government housing review and founding chair of the New Homes Quality Board – reserves special criticism for landlords and rent rises.

She calls for the “freezing all rents at their current rates for up to two years. In addition, no property could be re-let at a higher price during that period. This would ensure that the rent freeze cannot be circumvented by re-letting.”

She claims this would save around £2,000 for the average renter, and up to £4,000 in London.

Then she goes on to say: “While landlords would, no doubt, protest, this would not be so problematic for landlords as might first appear. It is not landlords who are facing paying for the extraordinary energy rises in the homes they let out, but their tenants. Buy-to-let finance costs are still low, with two-year fixed rates available at less than 2.5 per cent.

“So there is, and has been, no justification for the excessive rent hikes in recent times. Rents don’t reflect the costs of being a landlord. Rent levels are simply opportunistic and a result of lack of effective policy oversight in that market for far too many years.

“Indeed, controlling inflation will help keep interest rates lower for everyone as well as stabilise the value of housing. Extended inflationary spikes eat away at the value of all capital assets, including housing. High levels of repossessions and evictions put negative pressure on house prices. Early action to control rent rises is in the interests of landlords as well as tenants.

“The measures to freeze rents will help the public finances too. Of the nine million renters, 5.8 million tenanted households receive housing welfare support. Spending on housing welfare in 2021/22 is forecast to be over £30 billion. These measures could help to save billions on the benefits bill.”

It’s a lengthy and controversial article, delivered just days before a new Prime Minister is announced by Elphicke’s party, and you can read it in full here.