Labour urged to regulate private rents
12:01 AM, 4th August 2026, 2 hours ago
Calls for the Labour government to regulate private rents have intensified after polling found strong public backing for government intervention.
The Fabian Society, a left wing think tank, says ministers should build on the Renters’ Rights Act by introducing controls designed around local housing conditions.
Polling found 57% of private renters and 49% of the public regard affordability as the biggest problem facing tenants.
A separate question found 82% of the public and 89% of renters agreed that government should regulate housing markets when they fail to provide affordable homes.
Landlord returns challenged
In an article on the organisation’s website, Marcus Johns said: “Beyond supply, the private rental sector is not a functioning market.
“Renters cannot walk away from the need for somewhere to live, nor easily substitute one property for another when tied to work, a local school, or their community.”
He added: “Landlords are not disciplined by the market but enabled to extract rents.
“This is why landlords are earning supernormal returns, far beyond what investing their capital productively would earn, incentivising extraction through property over real economic growth.”
Pressure on tenants
The society says England’s 12 million private renters are facing growing financial pressure and insecurity.
Analysis highlighted in its report found two in five spend more than 30% of their income on rent, while one in 10 spend more than 70%.
Its polling found rising housing costs affected 88% of renters, with a third describing the impact on their household as major.
Among people classed as economically precarious, 39% said higher housing costs had a major impact.
Controls and database
The Fabian Society describes the Renters’ Rights Act as a foundation for further intervention because it restricts rent increases to once a year and allows tenants to challenge rises above local market levels.
It argues that carefully targeted controls in Spain and Ireland have avoided the loss of housing supply associated with some more rigid schemes.
The organisation also wants the rents paid, property standards and facilities provided to be recorded on the new landlord database.
Mr Johns said further details of the society’s proposed model for regulating rents would be published later.
