With the fear of rent controls growing under the premiership of Andy Burnham, the campaign against them has been reinvigorated by the National Residential Landlords Association.

Chief executive Ben Beadle says: “Boosting housing supply will be one of the government’s most pressing issues, and we stand ready to work constructively with ministers on this agenda.

“With the private rented sector facing significant further changes, it is vital that reforms are practical and fair for both tenants and responsible landlords.

“We urge the housing secretary to focus on improving enforcement to root out the minority of rogue and criminal landlords undermining the reputation of the responsible majority. 

“In parallel, ministers must also repair the broken justice system to ensure the Renters’ Rights Act can be implemented effectively.”

“Underpinning all of this is a need to rule out any form of rent control. As [Housing Secretary] Angela Rayner herself and the cross-party Housing Select Committee have all warned, rent controls would undermine the supply of the homes to rent so many tenants urgently need.”

The association also uses its website to remind housing minister Matthew Pennycook that he told the Commons in spring that “there is sufficient international evidence from countries such as Sweden and Germany, and from individual cities such as San Francisco, as well as the recent Scottish experience, to attest to the potential detrimental impacts of rent controls on tenants.”

On top of that, the NRLA adds that the all-party Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee has recently concluded that it was “not currently convinced that stricter measures to stabilise rents would be a proportionate step” due to the “potential consequences this could have on the supply of affordable properties.”