Returning housing secretary Angela Rayner has confirmed that the new government is not looking to introduce rent controls, but has vowed to hit Labour’s ambitious 1.5 million homes target in this parliament.
In an interview with BBC Breakfast this morning (24 July), Rayner, appointed to Andy Burnham’s cabinet this week, said her and the prime minister were not looking at measures such as rent caps, citing market challenges created by the measures in Scotland.
“That is not something that we’re looking to do, because we’ve seen what’s happened in areas like Scotland,” she said. “It hasn’t necessarily brought rents down. It’s actually an aspiration, that people say ‘well, that’s the ceiling’.”
Rent caps in Scotland have been controversial in recent years, with organisations such as Real Estate:UK warning about their possible negative impact on investment in the rental sector.
Rayner returns as housing secretary nearly a year after stepping down over a stamp duty scandal, and is picking up many of the policies introduced under her leadership.
She said the introduction of the Renters’ Rights Act earlier this year was “already having a significant impact on the market” and serves as a “better way of stabilising the rental market” compared with rent controls.
“The work we’ve done to make sure landlords are giving people fair rents [means] people can challenge rent hikes at tribunal now, making sure people are not in bidding wars to get rents; we’ve actually had an impact on the market.”
Following the appointment of Andy Burnham as prime minister earlier this week, there was speculation that rent controls could be introduced, a measure he has previously supported.
Vanessa Hale, chief executive of Real Estate:UK, said: “Today’s confirmation from the housing secretary that the government will not introduce rent controls is excellent news for the housing sector.
“We have consistently made clear the only durable way to tackle housing affordability is through a sustained increase in supply. Policy efforts should therefore be focused on interventions that support delivery of new homes. Internationally, the evidence is clear that rent controls undermine investment and, consequently, restrict housing supply.”
Also speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, Rayner confirmed that government is still committed to bringing forward 1.5 million new homes by the end of this Parliament.
However, she acknowledged the target was “very challenging beforem when I came into government”, and added: “It’s certainly got more challenging, and we’ve seen things like construction costs go up, which has had a real negative impact on that,” she added.
“But I’m not dropping it. I’m just saying that it is a really difficult stretch target.”
Last month, data from Savills predicted that just 837,500 new homes will be completed in England in the five years up to 2029-30, far below the government’s 1.5m target. In March, data published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government revealed the number of planning decisions made in England fell by 4% in Q4 2025.
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