To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allowing local authorities to introduce rent controls in areas of very high private rental costs.

The Government does not support the introduction of rent controls to set the level of rent at the outset of a tenancy. Rents are negotiated and agreed between landlord and tenant.

Historical evidence suggests that these would discourage investment in the sector, and would lead to declining property standards as a result, which would not help landlords or tenants. Recent international examples suggest that rent controls can have an inadvertent negative impact on the supply of housing and may encourage more illegal subletting.