Rents: Regulation _ Parliamentary Written Answer

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will bring forward legislative proposals giving local authorities powers to implement rent controls.

Brandon Lewis: No. The latest Office for National Statistics figures show that private sector rents have actually fallen in real terms across England since 2010 (rents up 10.6 per cent from May 2010 to December 2014, compared to CPI inflation of 12.1 per cent). Indeed, regulated social rents have risen faster in recent years; average weekly rents rose by 25.4 per cent from 2008-09 to 2012-13 in the social rented sector, compared to 6.5 per cent in the private rented sector (DCLG, English Housing Survey: Headline Report, February 2014, p.19). The historical evidence is clear that rent controls resulted in the size of the private rented sector shrinking from 55 per cent of households in 1939 to just 8 per cent in the late 1980s. State-imposed price ceilings meant that many landlords could not afford to improve or maintain their homes, leading to worst conditions for tenants. Ultimately, the reduction in supply from such controls would push up rents and reduce choice for tenants. Read more on the Parliament website.