Shadow Chancellor pledges to cap rents to 'rip-off landlords'

John McDonnell has pledged to cap rents in his speech to the Labour Party Conference in Brighton.

In the speech he says a future Labour Government will “cap rents and build a million new genuinely affordable homes, so young people in particular aren’t pouring away thousands of pounds from their wages to rip-off landlords”. 

However the RLA has long warned that moves to control rents have been proved to have a detrimental effect on renters and rented housing.

The speech did not include any further detail on how this would be implemented, although earlier this month the Shadow Chancellor announced a Labour plan which would force landlords to sell homes to tenants for less than market rates.

McDonnell said that, should Labour win the next election, the party would bring in new ‘Right to Buy’ legislation – a move the RLA said could kill off the PRS.

Speaking at the conference yesterday McDonnell also said the party would restore full trade union and workplace rights, introduce a real living wage of at least £10 per hour and end the roll-out of Universal Credit should it come to power.

To read the speech in full click here.