Housing Secretary Angela Rayner has ruled out rent controls in England, providing greater certainty for buy-to-let brokers, landlords and lenders following several days of speculation.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham had previously confirmed that a temporary rent freeze was among the cost-of-living measures being examined, although no final decision had been made.

Rayner said the Government would instead rely on protections introduced through the Renters’ Rights Act, including limits on rent increases and measures designed to prevent rental bidding wars.

She also admitted that the Government’s target to build 1.5 million homes during the current Parliament had become more difficult because of higher construction costs and wider pressures affecting development viability.

RENTAL CERTAINTY

Speaking to BBC Breakfast this morning Rayner said: “We won’t be looking at rent controls if that’s what you’re getting at at the moment.

“That is not something that we’re looking to do because we’ve seen what’s happened in areas like Scotland. It hasn’t necessarily brought rents down.”

Burnham previously supported calls for a private-sector rent freeze while serving as Mayor of Greater Manchester.

However, Rayner said the introduction of the Renters’ Rights Act had changed the policy landscape by giving tenants greater scope to challenge rent increases and restricting landlords to one increase annually.

“I think that’s a better way of stabilising the rental market,” she added.

The decision removes an immediate source of uncertainty for buy-to-let underwriting, where expected rental income plays an important role in affordability assessments, interest coverage ratios and property valuations.

DELIVERY CHALLENGE

Turning to housing supply, Rayner described the 1.5 million-home commitment as a “really difficult stretched target” but insisted it had not been dropped.

She said: “It certainly got more challenging, and we’ve seen things like construction costs go up, which has had a real negative impact on that.

“But I’m not dropping it.”

Failure to increase housing supply could maintain affordability pressures across both the owner-occupied and rental markets, while constraining mortgage activity among first-time buyers and movers.