24th Jul 2026 10:38
(Alliance News) - UK Housing Secretary Angela Rayner has ruled out bringing in rent controls to help with the cost of living, while admitting the Labour goal to build 1.5 million homes in five years is "challenging".
Prime Minister Andy Burnham told reporters on Monday that he was considering rent freezes as part of a package of measures, but said no final decisions had been made.
Rayner said changes made through renters' rights legislation brought in under Labour so far are "already having a significant impact on the market".
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, she 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."
She pointed to changes that allow people to challenge rent hikes at tribunals and stop bidding wars for rented properties, saying: "I think that's a better way of stabilising the rental market."
Rent controls can come in the form of caps on how much rent can be charged or freezing them for a period of time.
Burnham backed a call three years ago as mayor of Greater Manchester for a freeze on private sector rents until the cost-of-living crisis is over.
Asked if he stood by it, Rayner said: "I don't think that rent freezes, rent controls, is a way forward at the moment.
"Three years ago Andy called for that because there was a significant crisis in the rental market.
"We implemented between then the Renters' Rights Act which is giving renters more power and control."
She was also quizzed on the goal set under former prime minister Keir Starmer to build 1.5 million homes in this Parliament, which she said she was not dropping despite conceding it is a "really difficult stretched target".
She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It certainly got more challenging, and we've seen things like construction costs go up, etc., which has had a real negative impact on that.
"But I'm not dropping it. I'm just saying that it is a really difficult stretched target."
Pressed further, she said: "Yeah, I'm going to keep the target, but it's like me saying I'm going to run the London Marathon in under five hours.
"That would be a real challenge for me, but I'd do it…Look, I am straight-talking.
"One-point-five million homes is a difficult target. It was when I made the target, but I'm going to keep the target, and I'm not going to be defeated."
By Helen Corbett, Press Association Political Correspondent
source: PA
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