Politicians call for London rent controls
21/08/2015
As London rent prices continue to increase, a group of politicians has called for more controls on landlords.
In 18 of London’s 33 boroughs, the rent for a one bedroom flat exceeds £1,000 a month, and the cost of renting has risen by an average of 22% over the past five years. Most economists say that workers should pay around 30% of their salary on rent or mortgage payments, but what Londoners actually pay in relation to salary is among the highest in the world according to a report by McKinsey Global Institute. Evidence shows that many Londoners are paying more than half of their salary in rent.
David Lammy, MP for Tottenham, has now warned that unless rent controls are applied, London will be risking civil unrest similar to that in the ghettoised suburbs of Paris.
Rent controls are not caps on the cost of monthly rent but instead concentrate on restrictions on in-contract rent increases and lease conditions, such as length of tenancy. This prevents landlords pushing rents up to overheated levels.
David Lammy said:
“I worry about London. If we don’t do something about this, we are going to be like the Parisian banlieue, where you have squalid accommodation outside the centre, a rise in rioting and chronic and endemic hardship.”
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