Labour scraps pledge to bring in rent controls

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Lisa Nandy said last September that that she wanted to give local authorities the power to freeze rents, telling the party conference: “Doing nothing is not an option.” But speaking on Wednesday, the shadow communities secretary described the approach as a “sticking plaster” and claimed it would increase homelessness. But following Ms Nandy’s speech a Labour spokesperson said it was unfair to characterise her latest announcement as a U-turn, stating: “A rent freeze has never been Labour party policy.” The change has prompted an outcry from Labour’s left, with campaign group Momentum accusing the party leadership of being “allergic to good, popular policy”. But Ms Nandy told the conference on Wednesday: “It might be politically easier to put a sticking plaster on our deep-seated problems, but if it is cowardice that got us here, it is never going to get us out.” Sadiq Khan and Andy Burnham are among senior figures in local government to have called for powers to control rents as prices surge in their cities, with Mr Khan urging the government to set up a commission to work out a way forward. Speaking last September at a Labour Party conference fringe event on the private rented sector, Ms Nandy said she was “personally very interested and attracted by the idea” of freezing rents.