MP backs priced out London tenants as they demand rent controls
Calls for action made over ‘Wild West’ market after data reveals rents are unaffordable in all 32 of London’s boroughs.
Politicians, pressure groups and London’s tenants are all calling for rent controls after it was revealed that the cost of renting a home in London are ‘unaffordable’ in all 32 of its boroughs.
Although spending more than 30% of your income on rent is deemed unaffordable, the latest ONS figures show that the average in London is 41.6%. Since 2016, that figure has ranged between 38.5% and 57%.
MP Luke Taylor (pictured), the Liberal Democrat’s London Spokesperson, has responded by telling Southwark News: “London used to be a city full of opportunities for everybody, but too many Londoners, from working families to young people, are being priced out as a result of eye-watering rental costs.
Wild West
“The rental market has turned into the Wild West, with renters facing exorbitant rent increases and being thrown out with little notice after successive governments have dragged their feet in bringing an end to no-fault evictions.
“Labour must now act quickly and tackle this problem at its root, which is supply. That is why we’re calling on the Government to build 150,000 social homes a year nationwide and get on with renters’ reform to ensure everyone is able to live in and enjoy our great city.”
And Jae Vail, a spokesperson for the London Renters Union, has said: ”London desperately needs rent control. Housing costs have been too high for too long. Rip-off rents are forcing ordinary people to cut back on food, heating, and other essentials.
For those of us who can no longer meet landlords’ extortionate demands, we are forced out of the communities that we have lived in for years or pushed into temporary accommodation.”
“For those of us who can no longer meet landlords’ extortionate demands, we are forced out of the communities that we have lived in for years or pushed into temporary accommodation.
“The Government must follow the lead of many European countries and introduce rent control and invest in council housing so that everyone has a secure place to call home. Rent control would bring down rents steadily and give renters more control over our lives.”
As reported in The Neg, Mayor Sadiq Khan has promised to set up ‘London Private Rent Commission’ and made rent one of his main election pledges, saying: “Renters are at the sharp end of the country’s housing crisis and need a Mayor who’s prepared to fight their corner.”
“I’ve been calling for the power to freeze rents in the Capital for years, but the Government has refused.”
MP Luke Taylor is so misinformed! high rents are purely because there is an acute shortage of private rental properties. Why? because you have hammered Landlords for the last 10 years. London landlords are selling up in their droves, me included. Local governments cant help these applicants find accommodation, so just like the Airlines putting up their prices in peak holiday times, why cant landlords? There was never this issue years ago, so why did you interfere?
Rent controls are not the solution. Guess what? Private landlords will just leave the sector even more, to invest somewhere that offers higher, easier, less taxed returns. The latest wheeze to tax them out of existence is apparently to charge National Insurance on rental income (net? gross? The latter wouldn’t surprise me as Section 24 means landlords already pay income tax on their turnover, not their profits). This, after HMRC has spent decades telling landlords that they aren’t running real businesses, merely “investments”, so aren’t entitled to any of the normal deductions enjoyed by businesses on costs incurred in the normal pursuit of their operations. Does this mean the Government is going to start charging NICs on savings income, interest on government bonds, and share dividends too?
Why is this Lib Dem not asking Sadiq Khan and the Government about why new-build rates have plunged so low in London: apparently just 3,950 new-builds were sold in the first half of 2025. Read this blog for an acute and persuasive analysis of “Why London Stopped Building: propviews*.co.uk / blog / why-london-stopped-building .