Greens promise to ‘tame’ the PRS with rent controls
Green Party Co-Leader Carla Denyer said local councils should have the power to set limits on rent increases.
The Green Party has pledged to “tame” the PRS by introducing rent controls in areas where tenants pay the most.
Greens Co-Leader Carla Denyer said the party would also stop landlords evicting tenants “overnight”.
Out of control
She made the pledge as the party launched its campaign for the local elections next month.
Commenting on the rent controls proposals, she said: “We would give local councils the power to tame the private rented sector,” she told the BBC.
In a lot of places like Bristol, the private rented sector is out of control.”
“In a lot of places like Bristol, the private rented sector is out of control, and rents bear no relation to incomes anymore.
“It means that a generation of people are simply unable to save for a deposit,” she said.
Denyer, who is also a local councillor in Bristol, said the Greens support the abolition of Section 21 notices to stop tenants being threatened with eviction “almost overnight”.
The Government has committed to banning S21 no fault evictions, but there is doubt over whether it can deliver the pledge in the face of a revolt by backbench MPs.
Best ever
The Greens achieved their best-ever local election results last year. In Bristol, they are the largest party and hope to win a parliamentary seat there as well at the General Election.
They are defending 107 council seats in England at the elections on 2 May. They currently have around 760 councillors on nearly 170 councils
Denyer said the Greens are the governing party in 10% of local authorities in England and Wales, and hoped to win more in May.
Main picture: BBC News
History repeats itself, Rent Control doesn’t work and was scrapped when Carla Denyer was 3 years old. Little wonder then when she has no living experience of what she is proposing it’s back on the table.
Dear Carla,
You are so out of touch it is frightening but then this only puts you in with the majority of those aledgedly running this once great country.
Firstly no landlord can evict someone overnight there is a two month notice period secondly if you have to go to court “overnight” becomes more like 8/10 months because the courts are in such a mess.
Another point after 21 years managing properties unless a landlord needs to sell (several reasons) or is coming back to live in the property very few want tenants to leave. The fact is that the vast majority of landlords are happy to have long term tenants. The main reason a Section 21 is issued is because the tenant is in rent arrears or is abusing the property oh yes Carla some of the tenants are naughty people .
Then you have totally forgotten as most political types do that landlords invest THEIR money in property and are entitled to a return on it. Most landlords have one or two properties and the investment property will become part of their pension, it is not protected like those pensions of civil servants and MPs. If you cap the rent you cap the return on investment and the landlord will sell up and invest elsewhere. Current rent rises are because of interest rises and landlords selling up because of the threat to their investment by MPs across the house.
Now please explain where you are going to house the 19% of people who depend on the PRS because I for one would love to hear the answer to this one.
I for one would be happy to sit down with my local MP and explain the real world of housing but my local MP whose has an office 100 yds away across the market place has never in 21 years set foot in mine of any other agents office.
Sad the lack of knowledge MPs have on housing because they only talk to Shelter who I understand are not landlords or tenants and have provided nil housing to anyone in the last 21 years. Yes we have a housing problem but it is not of the landlords making you need to look to yourselves as MPs.
Yours sincerely
John Redden – Landlord and Managing Agent
It’s understandable that there’s a desire to address housing affordability and tenant rights, but the approach of implementing rent controls would have unintended consequences. Rent controls distort housing markets, leading to reduced investment in rental properties and ultimately exacerbating housing shortages. Additionally, abolishing Section 21 notices could make it more challenging for landlords to manage their properties effectively, potentially discouraging them from renting out their properties altogether. While the Green Party’s intentions are commendable, it’s crucial to carefully consider the long-term impacts of these policies on both tenants and landlords.