London Mayor Sadiq Khan has yet again taken to social media to demand the powers to freeze private sector rents.

This has been a long-running demand by Khan, who knows that approaching 40 per cent of households in the Greater London area – the voting constituency for Mayor – are in the private rental sector.

His latest comment comes on Twitter. He has retweeted an Office for National Statistics statement claiming that “55 per cent of adults living in rented accommodation said they wouldn’t be able to afford an unexpected but necessary expense of £850. The same was found for 12 per cent of hose who own their home outright.”

Accompanying his retweet, Khan says: “More evidence of the financial pressure that renters are under. Freezing rents in London would give private renters much needed breathing space. The government should give me the powers to do so.”

The ONS figures come from its own Openings and Lifestyle survey, which ran from September last year to January this year.

In the past year Khan has introduced a new qualification and training for borough council housing enforcement officers to clamp down on landlords and letting agents.

He wants the amount that tenants can claim back if their home isn’t up to scratch doubled, to two years’ worth of rent, for the worst properties which pose a risk of death or serious injury. 

Khan claims that 18 per cent of privately rented homes in the capital fail the government’s Decent Homes standard and says private renters in London are disproportionately likely to be defined as ‘vulnerable’.