London Mayor Sadiq Khan has said that he is pushing the Labour Party government to include the ability for rent controls in London on private landlords as part of a devolution deal currently being planned. This admission comes thanks to a Green Party politician – who has been vocal on this housing issue, partly due to her own lived experience.
Rent controls in London: sorely needed
A City Hall politician has thrown her weight behind rent controls in London – branding the abandoning of them in England over the last few decades ‘a failed experiment’. Zoë Garbett, a Green London Assembly member, made the remarks at a meeting she organised about how rent controls could operate in the capital held at City Hall in Newham, East London on Tuesday (November 5).
Garbett noted that “There were rent controls until 1988 and we could say we’ve had a failed experiment of not having rent controls. We now need to get back to having them”. Now, she has taken her campaign one step further – and managed to get a commitment from Khan over the issue.
Pointing to the success of her Rent Commission earlier this month, which brought together renters, unions, campaigners and academics for a roundtable at City Hall, Garbett took her campaign for rent control directly to the mayor.
Seated in the same chamber at City Hall, Garbett recounted how one renter on her Commission saw her rent jump £400 a month in her home of 20 years, and how she expected to be forced out in January at the next rent increase. She emphasised how others described being driven out of their support network, harming their mental health and rupturing community ties.
Khan to push Labour – after Garbett pushed Khan
When asked about whether the mayor is pushing for rent controls in London to be included in the government’s forthcoming Devolution White Paper, which will lay out the Labour Party’s plans for devolving power out of Westminster, Khan said:
The Government’s current policy is not in favour of rent controls, so we’re doing what we can to try and persuade them to change their minds.
As MyLondon noted, Khan “currently lacks the powers to impose rent controls but has previously indicated he supports them. In 2019, he launched a report which said he would seek to establish a commission to design and implement an effective system of rent controls” in London.
Following her exchange with Khan over rent controls in London, Garbett said:
The Mayor already pledged to host a rent commission – all he must do now is follow through on his promise to Londoners.
My sincere hope is that our commission this month proved it’s not only possible to bring together such an incredible coalition of renters and advocates, but also urgently needed to address London’s rent affordability crisis.
I’m not saying I know which rent control will be best for London: I’m saying London’s renters deserve to be having this conversation with their Mayor, so he can properly represent their interests to Government.
Featured image via the Canary
