Comments
Andy Burnham’s government could be entertaining to watch but disastrous for the country. Reports suggest that one of the options Burnham could announce to immediately tackle the cost of living is some form of rent control.
If true, he’s already lost the plot. He must surely know that rent controls do not work. They may immediately stop rents climbing in the subset of properties whatever controls he announces are applied to, but beyond that the result will be entirely predictable: a collapse in rental supply as landlords sell up and flee the market; staggering rent hikes when the freeze comes to an end; and trapped tenants because new lease prices will shoot up as landlords attempt to recoup losses from elsewhere.
He must surely know that rent controls do not work
Controls could send mortgage rates northwards again too. Drive landlords out of the market and suddenly buy-to-let mortgages look riskier. Riskier equals more expensive. Not exactly a cost of living win.
