ACORN activist Martin Mawdsley says that rents must be linked to incomes to make them "fair and affordable"
Martin Mawdsley, ACORN Liverpool branch secretary, has perfectly summed up the urgent need for rent controls in the UK, arguing that the Renters’ Rights Act does not address affordability.
Speaking at an LFF Live event last night, he said that “the big elephant in the room” with the Renters’ Rights Act is that “it doesn’t really address affordability at all”.
This is despite ACORN’s best efforts to get affordability included as a consideration in the Act.
From 1 May, renters will be able to challenge unfair rent increases through the tribunal system, however, Mawdsley said that this is likely to mean tribunals are “swamped” and that ACORN “would much rather a formal system of some sort of rent controls”.
Mawdsley said that ACORN is in the process of finalising its policy on rent controls, but that its members want income-linked rent caps to ensure rent is “fair and affordable”.
Critics of rent controls argue that the measure pushes landlords out of the market, inadvertently driving up rents.
Mawdsley argued this is not the case. He said that Britain before deregulation of the rental market under Margaret Thatcher had a system of successful rent controls.
Mawdsley said: “It actually coincided with the biggest period of housebuilding the country has ever seen, so the argument that rent controls deflate housing supply and stop building is wrong.”
He added: “If you limit the amount of profit that landlords and developers can make, the only way they can make money is by building more.”
Catch up on the full episode of last night’s LFF Live here.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
Left Foot Forward doesn't have the backing of big business or billionaires. We rely on the kind and generous support of ordinary people like you.
You can support hard-hitting journalism that holds the right to account, provides a forum for debate among progressives, and covers the stories the rest of the media ignore. Donate today.