Rent Controls: Why the New PM Ruled Them Out (For Now)

For a few weeks this summer, rent controls looked like a real possibility in England. They aren't happening, at least not now. Housing Secretary Angela Rayner ruled them out on the record on 24 July, and nothing has moved since. Here's the full story, and what it actually means if you're a landlord who spent July wondering whether a rent cap was about to land on top of everything else in the Renters' Rights Act.

How This Started

The trigger was a report published in July by the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose and the New Economics Foundation. It modelled what would have happened if rents had been frozen back in May 2024, and concluded that a 10% reduction in rents, roughly what that freeze would have delivered, would have saved the average renting household £1,300 a year. It also claimed this would have made only 2.3% of individual landlords unprofitable, a much smaller share than the 4.8% the report says have already been made unprofitable by tax changes and interest rate rises since 2021.

That report landed at a politically sensitive moment. Andy Burnham had just become Prime Minister, and within days press reports said his government was weighing rent controls as one of a handful of cost-of-living "quick wins" for the new administration. The National Residential Landlords Association ramped up its campaigning against the idea almost immediately. On the other side, tenant campaign group Generation Rent pushed back the other way, including a postcard campaign aimed directly at Rayner.

The NRLA's response was blunt. Chief executive Ben Beadle said it was "vital that reforms are practical and fair for both tenants and responsible landlords" and called on ministers to "rule out any form of rent control" outright, warning that further disruption on top of the Renters' Rights Act risked pushing more landlords out of the market altogether.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did the government introduce rent controls in England?

No. Housing Secretary Angela Rayner told BBC Breakfast on 24 July 2026 that the government is not looking at rent freezes or rent controls in England. She pointed to Scotland's experience as a reason, saying controls there had not necessarily brought rents down, and said the Renters' Rights Act is already having a significant impact on the market.

Did Prime Minister Andy Burnham actually consider rent controls?

Press reports in mid-July 2026 said Burnham was weighing rent controls as one of several cost-of-living quick wins early in his premiership. Reports later that month said he was preparing to drop the idea after opposition from Rayner and other ministers, which Rayner then confirmed publicly.

Why did landlords take the rent control reports seriously rather than dismiss them?

Because of Burnham's own track record. As a mayoral candidate for Greater Manchester in 2016 he pledged to seek powers to regulate rent increases, and in February 2023 he signed an open letter to government, alongside other metro mayors and the Green Party, calling for an emergency rent freeze during the cost-of-living crisis. That history gave the July reports credibility they might not otherwise have had.

Could rent controls still happen in future?

Rayner's answer was that rent controls are not the way forward 'at the moment', not a permanent commitment. Housing policy can shift, particularly under sustained cost-of-living pressure. For now, though, the government's stated position is that the Renters' Rights Act, not new rent caps, is the tool it intends to rely on.