Rent controls will punish renters and investors, Mr Miliband

摘要

Fashion, much like property, is cyclical. Ideas inevitably fall out of favour, only to be resurrected years later, usually sported by gloating youngsters. Ed Miliband, then, is the rather unlikely leader of a 1970s fashion revolution. Rather than flared jeans or tie-dye t-shirts, it's that most clumsy of policy instruments - rent controls - he wants to reinflate. Last year, Labour promised to cap rent increases and scrap letting fees as part of a "fairer deal" for the soaring number of private renters, As with Labour's energy price promises, rent controls are a seductively simple solution to a complex problem. The problem is that vilifying landlords will not lead to more homes being built, But with the reputation of landlords up there with payday lenders in certain parts of the media, it is no surprise that polling by campaign group Generation Rent found just under two-thirds of the public support some form of rent control, with only a measly 6,8% opposed.