A newly-nominated candidate in this spring’s London Mayoral election has vowed to lower private rents if he wins.

Serge Crowbolder, currently a bakery delivery operative, claims in his first election statement that the single biggest issue facing the capital is its rental market.

“Our beautiful city is in danger of becoming a golden cage” says Crowbolder who lives in social housing in Islington, and who describes himself as the “people focused” candidate.

He is opposing incumbent Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan – and many other candidates who have emerged – but he wants to go further even than Khan, who routinely demands power from central government to freeze rents in the private sector. 

Instead Crowbolder says if he wins on May 2 he will seek government consent to introduce “better rents” across all rental tenures.

“When I say better rents, I mean lower rents, essentially. I don’t think a rent freeze is enough… But in order to make better rents a reality for Londoners, what we need is two things. 

“The political will – it needs to be a really strong mandate. The other side of it though is, ultimately, you need to get the banks on side – because in order for this to be a reality, we need to be able to match the buy-to-let mortgage repayments with what the maximum rent would be.”

He claims a system along the lines of his scheme operates now in the Netherlands which involves the rent level set by points attributed to tenants according to their need, and assessed by an independent tribunal.

Crowbolder is also calling for a digital voting system to allow Londoners to express agreement or disagreement with policies should he become Mayor.

The Mayor of London has responsibilities covering policing, transport, some aspects of housing, planning, economic development, arts, culture and the environment and enjoys a huge budget of around £18 billion per year. 

The powers do not include imposing controls on private rents.