Labour is backing a rent freeze in Scotland and flirting with one in England - but it’s just stopped one being imposed in Wales.
Welsh nationalist politicians in the Plaid Cymru party made the call for a freeze in the Welsh Parliament; they were hoping to follow in the footsteps of Scotland where nationalists and Green politicians run that government jointly.
In Wales however, senior Labour ministers warned of "unintended consequences" of a rent freeze such as landlords resorting to short lets, or simply quitting the sector and selling up.
In particular housing minister Julie James said she wanted to "target the support at the people who are most vulnerable and make sure they stay in their homes" but insisted: “We don't want to drive landlords away from the sector.”
Instead she called on the UK government to unfreeze housing allowance, which has not kept up with rent rises.
One Labour member of the Welsh Parliament said a rent freeze was "superficially attractive" but could encourage landlords to switch to "the Wild West of housing - Airbnb".
Meanwhile Conservative Janet Finch-Saunders said rent controls were a "nightmare" and that Plaid's debate "tries to do down the private rented sector."
We're excited to announce that we're working on building a shiny new website for readers of Landlord Today! As part of this process, commenting on articles will be temporarily disabled. We look forward to sharing our new and improved Landlord Today website with you shortly!
.png)
(1).png)
