It’s time for rent control – Londoners certainly think so

That’s why at City Hall we are developing a blueprint of how the private rented sector should be overhauled. Our work focuses on tenancy reform – ending ‘no fault’ eviction and giving renters the right to open-ended tenancies – alongside a system to stop Londoners paying ever more on rents.

Such changes only seem radical in the London context. For many countries and cities around the world, a more regulated private rented sector has long been accepted.

In Scotland, Ireland, Berlin and Paris – and even in US cities such as New York – limits on rents and their increases exist already, and in some cases have done for years.

Systems from other countries cannot simply be ‘lifted and shifted’ wholesale into London’s unique context, but they offer valuable insights into what approaches might work in our city.

Other cities’ examples inform our plans, which we are developing with the New Economics Foundation and Karen Buck, MP for Westminster North and a respected campaigner and legislator for renters’ rights.

“The status quo has enormous downsides for a generation of Londoners – and so it cannot be an option to leave things as they are”

In developing the right approach for London, we are conscious of the knock-on effects that some systems of rent control can have.

We will consider what steps can help minimise any unintended consequences. But the status quo has enormous downsides for a generation of Londoners – and so it cannot be an option to leave things as they are.

Once we publish the blueprint in the coming months, we will urge the national government to follow its approach and implement radical changes to the private rented sector.

At City Hall, the mayor has no powers to implement the changes, but we will make the case forcefully that a workable and radical reform like ours is what private renters need.

James Murray, deputy London mayor for housing and residential development