Propertymark has waded into the ongoing debate about private sector rent controls.
The letting agents’ trade body says the protect some tenants in the short term, but do not address the shortage of homes and end up weakening investment, reducing stock and making it harder for people seeking a new tenancy to find a suitable home.
In a new statement this week, the agents say: “Rent controls appeal because they appear to offer a quick response when tenants are struggling.
“The scale of the affordability problem cannot be ignored. Across London, for example, the average rent for a one bedroom home is equal to 52% of median pre-tax pay, compared with 42% across the rest of England.
“Tenants need secure, good-quality homes at prices they can afford. Achieving that requires coordinated action to address the root causes of high housing costs.”
But instead of introducing rent controls, politicians should take other steps, insists Propertymark.
These should conclude increasing the supply of homes across the private and social rented sectors; review taxes which discourage landlords from entering or remaining in the market; restoring and retaining Local Housing Allowance rates so that support reflects real rents; bringing empty homes back into use; adopting grants and tax incentives to support energy efficiency and wider property improvements; and providing stable, proportionate regulation which gives responsible landlords confidence to invest.
These recommendations are set out in Propertymark’s policy paper, The Future of Renting.
The trade body says: “Recent debate has focused on whether a carefully designed system could avoid the problems seen under strict rent freezes.
“One proposal for England recommends a national ‘double lock’ linking rent increases to wages and the Consumer Price Index, with exemptions for new homes and controls applying both within and between tenancies.
“Its supporters acknowledge risks to supply, quality, and mobility but argue that these can be managed through the scheme’s design .
“Those safeguards do not eliminate the central problem: even a moderate cap changes the expected return from providing a rented home.
“Landlords may sell, move property into another tenure or market, delay improvements, or become more selective about applicants. Exemptions can soften one effect but create new boundaries and incentives around which properties are controlled.”
Propertymark claims that international evidence from, for example, San Francisco and Berlin, shows why policy makers should be cautious.
You can read the body’s Future of Renting document here: https://www.propertymark.co.uk/resource/future-of-renting.html
