NEF proposals on private rental sector

New Economic Foundation has come up with proposals to scrap Section 21 eviction powers and cap rents. The report also states what it thinks of the private rental sector in general.

In a new report on altering fundamental parts of the British economy, the London-based New Economic Foundation describes the private rental sector as "the most unaffordable and least secure tenure of housing, relied on by increasing numbers of families and older people".

It also says it was created "in the interests of investors and landlords" and is in urgent need of reform.

The NEF wants:

- the power to control rents devolved to regional authorities, as London Labour mayor Sadiq Khan has already advocated

- ending what it calls "no-fault Section 21 evictions"

- Introducing lifetime and open-ended tenancies, as it is in Scotland

- a publicly-accessible database of landlords and rents, administered by regional centres.

The NEF says it has "developed a model of rent controls fit for the 21st century that would limit rents within and between tenancies and bring rents down to levels affordable on local incomes."

To see the full report:

https://neweconomics.org/uploads/files/newrules2019a.pdf