The Conservative party appears to have made a U-turn on rent controls following comments made to a newspaper by the Housing Secretary.
The Housing Secretary, Robert Jenrick revealed this week in an interview with i newspaper that the Conservatives will now consider limited controls on rent rises. This is contrary to what he said at the Parliamentary housing select committee in early November. Before the select committee, Mr Jenrick revealed that he was ‘not in favour of rent controls’.
However, it now appears that winning votes is a priority and as such rent controls are no longer ‘dead in the water’. In the i newspapers interview Mr Jenrick has said a Conservative government would ‘carefully consider…what contractual commitments can be made that provide greatest certainty to tenants.
‘Whether that’s having clear guidance as to the rate at which your rent might rise or the length of your tenancy.’
It certainly is all about the election at the moment and the promises and statements that are being made prior to the election are certainly not set in stone. However, votes are important and retaining those votes equally so in this election so some of these statements may no doubt influence which box voters cross.
Disclaimer
The contents of this blog post is not legal advice and is provided for general information purposes only. If legal advice is needed readers should contact a solicitor. No responsibility for any information contained within this post is accepted and PainSmith solicitors accepts no liability in respect of the contents or for action taken based on this post.
Published 12 December 2019
