Affordable Housing

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government written question – answered at on 4 November 2019.

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Photo of Paul Farrelly Paul Farrelly Labour, Newcastle-under-Lyme

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing rent freezes to maintain affordable housing for low-income households.

Photo of Esther McVey Esther McVey Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

holding answer received on 28 October 2019

The government does not favour the introduction of caps on private rents as this could restrict investment in the private rented sector. From 1915 to the late 1980s, successive governments implemented policies to control or restrict private rents, which coincided with the decline in the private rented sector from nine-tenths of the housing stock in 1915 to one tenth in 1991.

Rent caps have lead to worse property conditions for tenants by discouraging investment in existing accommodation.

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