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ARLA Insists Rent Controls Will Not Help Tenants
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
Rent controls will do nothing to help tenants, insists the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA).
ARLA Insists Rent Controls Will Not Help Tenants
ARLA made this claim in response to questions from the London Assembly Housing Committee, which asked: “Which rent stabilisation measures do you think operate effectively in other countries?” and “What more can the Mayor do to support the development of build-to-let and commercial landlords?”
ARLA replied by stating that it is not in favour of rent controls, as similar measures in other countries have often led to tenants being left with much higher expenses.
Managing Director of ARLA, David Cox, says: “Fundamentally, ARLA is not in favour of introducing rent stabilisation measures in London.
“In March, we surveyed our members and nearly three-quarters of them said that rent control, longer tenancies and less freedom to evict tenants will not benefit tenants in reality.
“We’ve looked at Germany, which is often viewed as one of the best examples of rent stabilisation in the world, but there are large costs involved for tenants, as most properties are let bare without a kitchen or bathroom.”
He continues: “In addition, in Belgium, they have longer minimum tenancies lasting between three and five years, which simply wouldn’t work in London where the fluidity of people coming and going for short periods is a common occurrence.
“The challenge in London remains to find new, imaginative and additional ways of delivering good homes in safe and friendly neighbourhoods for prices people can afford.
“We think that the Stamp Duty raised from London property sales should be kept in London to invest in more housing and we would like to see the London Rental Standard become mandatory across the private rented sector.”1
