Labour ‘clear’ on rejecting rent controls despite support from local party leaders

Lisa Nandy suggested the idea of freezing rent would “almost certainly” leave some people homeless in a speech earlier on Wednesday.

Lisa Nandy, the shadow housing secretary, said freezing rates could leave some people homeless (James Speakman/PA) (PA Wire)

Labour has said its stance on rent controls is “clear” after a shadow minister ruled out the policy, despite support from local party leaders.

Lisa Nandy suggested the idea of freezing rates would “almost certainly” leave some people homeless in a speech earlier on Wednesday.

It comes after Labour mayors including Sadiq Khan and Andy Burnham voiced support for the policy.

Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said that ultimately the party leader would be responsible setting out its manifesto at the next election.

“One of the strengths that we have from the devolved system (is) directly elected mayors who are able to advocate for policy that they want to see but ultimately it is for Keir to determine what will be in the manifesto at the next election,” they said.

They added: “I think our position on this has been pretty clear.”

Sir Keir also sought to rubbish the Conservatives’ record on housing during Prime Minister’s Questions, when he renewed a claim that Labour is now “the party of homeownership”.

Referring to Rishi Sunak, he told the Commons: “You can tell from his answer … his body language, he has actually given up. He has given up. And his failure isn’t just shuttering the dream of those who desperately want to own their own home, it’s also hitting those who already have a mortgage.”

The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) welcomed Ms Nandy’s suggestion that the party would not heed calls on rent controls, claiming such an intervention would do nothing to address the “supply crisis” faced by tenants.

During a speech in Manchester, Ms Nandy said: “Untargeted mortgage relief that fuels the inflation crisis is no substitute for stabilising the economy and getting interest rates under control,” he said.

“And when housebuilding is falling off a cliff and buy-to-let landlords are leaving the market, rent controls that cut rents for some, will almost certainly leave others homeless.

“It might be politically easier to put a sticking plaster on our deep-seated problems, but if it is cowardice that got us here, it is never going to get us out.”

The speech marked a shift in tone from comments Ms Nandy made last autumn, when she said she was “personally very interested” in the possibility of local leaders being able to impose rent controls in their areas over the winter.

She focused instead on promises not to shy away from “difficult choices” when it comes to building more homes, accusing ministers of being “afraid of the taboo” of the green belt.

She vowed to “tilt the balance of power back” in favour of those looking to get on the housing ladder, pledging to utilise central government support to “help them make the leap into home ownership”.

In an address to the Housing 2023 conference, the shadow minister said that Labour will deliver a “refreshed model of housebuilding” that will “put social and genuinely affordable housing at the very heart of our plans to jump-start the housebuilding industry”.

She also told developers they can expect “transparent, long-term planning frameworks, quicker decisions and a more stable political environment” as her party looks to solve the national shortage of homes.

Ms Nandy criticised the Government’s decision to drop its housebuilding target, which she said had led to a shift from “bricks to benefits” whereby the Tory Government spends 10 times more on housing benefit than on producing affordable homes every year.

Labour has already said it would restore the target of building 300,000 houses a year following Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s decision in December to make it advisory rather than mandatory as he looked to see off a potential Tory backbench rebellion.

Mr Sunak has continued to come under fire, including from pro-housing MPs in his own party, for the decision.

Sir Keir, Labour’s leader, said this month that the dropped target meant housebuilding was likely to fall to its lowest level since the Second World War.

Ms Nandy said: “There are difficult choices that must be faced to build the houses we need.

We will be honest about what the green belt is and isn’t. We will release poor-quality ex-industrial land and dilapidated, neglected scrubland to build more housing

Shadow housing secretary Lisa Nandy

“And make no mistake — we choose growth.

“A broken market and an absent state is the worst of all worlds.”

Ms Nandy set out how Labour plans to create a new generation of local development corporations, spearheaded by and accountable to communities, if it wins the next general election, which is expected to be held in 2024.

Her party, which is well ahead of the Tories in opinion polls, has separately committed to overhauling how land is valued under the compulsory purchase order process in order to speed up new developments.

It has also pledged to free up parts of the green belt for development.

The green belt refers to the policy of leaving an area of land around a city or town undeveloped or set aside for agricultural use to prevent urban sprawl.

We agree with Labour that rent controls would do nothing to address the rental supply crisis that tenants across the country now face

Ben Beadle, NRLA

“We will be honest about what the green belt is and isn’t,” Ms Nandy said.

“We will release poor-quality ex-industrial land and dilapidated, neglected scrubland to build more housing.

“A sensible, strategic approach that ends a decade of potholing on the high-quality green belt and helps us tackle the housing crisis.”

Labour’s position on rent controls, which were promised in former party leader Jeremy Corbyn’s 2019 manifesto as a way of protecting tenants from hikes, could risk angering those on the left of the party.

But it won praise from landlords, with Ben Beadle, chief executive of the NRLA, saying: “We agree with Labour that rent controls would do nothing to address the rental supply crisis that tenants across the country now face.

“What renters need is a proper plan to boost the supply of homes for private rent alongside all other tenures.

“Housing benefit rates should also be unfrozen without delay to support vulnerable tenants who are struggling to access the rental market.”

During PMQs, Mr Sunak accused his opposite number of broken promises on housing and failing to take “the time to understand the detail of what we (the Government) are doing”.

A Conservative spokesperson said: “Keir Starmer has U-turned on everything from rental reform to protecting the green belt. On housing, like any other policy issue, the British people can’t trust Keir Starmer to keep his word.

“Only the Conservatives are improving tenants’ rights, protecting our green spaces and delivering the right homes in the right places, as we continue to deliver on the people’s priorities by halving inflation, growing the economy, reducing debt, cutting NHS waiting lists and stopping the boats.”