Sadiq Khan repeats his call for rent controls

Sadiq Khan, London's Labour Mayor, has reiterated calls for rent controls in the capital as first laid out in his Reform Private Renting report this summer.

Renters in Islington are paying £3,000 a year more than they were in 2012, new figures show. The average private rent for the borough has increased from £1,473 per month in 2012 to £1,733 per month this year, a rise of £3,120.

His proposals include establishing a new London Private Rent Commission, with renters on its board, to implement and enforce measures to reduce rents and keep them down.

Other recommendations include introducing open-ended tenancies and increasing landlord-to-tenant notice periods to four months.

He is quoted in local London media as saying: "It is shocking that renters in Brent are now paying £3,600 more every year than they did just seven years ago - meaning more and more of their earnings go on rent, and making it harder for them to put down roots.

"Unlike other mayors around the world, I have no powers over the private rented sector. Despite this, we have worked closely with councils over the last three years to 'name and shame' rogue landlords, and I have campaigned successfully with renters to get the government to ban letting agents fees for tenants and scrap Section 21."

However, industry figures have stridently opposed Khan's plans.

The National Landlords Association, which conducted a survey amongst 1,700 of its landlord members, says 89 per cent of them are likely to vote against any party that proposed rent controls and 85 per cent would vote against parties proposing to remove section 21.

Richard Lambert, chief executive of the NLA, says: "The Mayor's strategy is at best contradictory and at worst deluded. Either he hasn't researched how landlords' businesses work, or he didn't understand what he found. Or perhaps he did, and he just doesn't care."