What would Prime Minister Andy Burnham do for, or to, the private rental sector?

As Greater Manchester’s Labour Mayor – the post he would likely relinquish if he were selected for a Parliamentary by election – Burnham has been hyper active with private rental sector initiatives.

They give a strong clue as to what he may do should he become Prime Minister.

• He’s introduced a Good Landlord Charter to “drive up standards” in rented accommodation;

• Using a special fund of £1.5m he employed 10 enforcement staff to tackle bad private rental housing and take action against landlords not maintaining their properties;

• In 2023 he wrote to then Housing Secretary Michael Gove demanding the powers to impose rent controls on the private sector; 

• His letter included this: “Landlords with the encouragement of letting agents, are using this [cost of loving] crisis as an opportunity to introduce rent hikes … Some landlords will be struggling with increased mortgage costs, but many will not.”

• In June 2023, over a year before Labour’s election victory, Burnham advocated measures which went on to become staples of the Renters Rule huts Act. These included:
• an independent inspection regime of rented properties;
• a ‘Property Improvement Plan’ for every rented home, giving landlords a tailored blueprint for improvement;
• giving councils powers “to acquire properties from landlords who are unable or unwilling to meet standards”;
• a universal, mandatory Property Portal or register of landlords.

• In May 2024 he called for the end of right to buy on new build homes; 

• In late 2024 he tells the NRLA annual conference that he doesn’t want landlords to exit the private sector;

• He backs a visitor levy (a new tax) imposed nightly on visitors and to be collected by Airbnb hosts and hotels;

• This year he urged landlords to access Warn Homes grants to improve energy efficiency;

• In recent weeks he was consulted by the Labour Growth Group and the Good Growth Foundation on plans to increase Capital Gains Tax (CGT) to put it on an equal footing with income tax.