The Labour leadership has been accused of staging a U-turn over rent controls after Lisa Nandy said the measures could leave people homeless.
The shadow housing secretary outlined her opposition to rent controls in a speech on Wednesday.
“Untargeted mortgage relief that fuels the inflation crisis is no substitute for stabilising the economy and getting interest rates under control,” she told the Chartered Institute of Housing conference in Manchester.
“And when housebuilding is falling off a cliff and buy-to-let landlords are leaving the market, rent controls that cut rents for some will almost certainly leave others homeless.
“It might be politically easier to put a sticking plaster on our deep-seated problems, but if it is cowardice that got us here it is never going to get us out.”
Nandy’s speech, which comes after Labour mayors including Sadiq Khan and Andy Burnham voiced support for the policy, sparked criticism from Momentum, the leftwing group set up to support Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.
“Millions of renters and mortgage holders are struggling to make ends meet. With the Tory government shrugging its shoulders, Labour has both the opportunity and the obligation to set out the decisive action needed,” said a spokesperson.
They referenced comments by Nandy during last year’s Labour conference when she said she was “personally very interested and attracted” to the idea of allowing local mayors and council leaders to make decisions to freeze rent increases.
“It beggars belief then that Lisa Nandy has criticised calls for rent controls, which she herself backed just months ago, and mortgage relief,” added the Momentum statement.
The Conservatives claimed the announcement marked the latest “flip-flop” by Labour.
“Keir Starmer has U-turned on everything from rental reform to protecting the green belt. On housing, like any other policy issue, the British people can’t trust Keir Starmer to keep his word.”
A spokesperson for Starmer told journalists on Wednesday that ultimately the party leader would be responsible for setting out its manifesto at the next election.
“One of the strengths that we have from the devolved system [is] directly elected mayors who are able to advocate for policy that they want to see, but ultimately it is for Keir to determine what will be in the manifesto at the next election,” they said.
Nandy’s speech came a day after Khan, the Labour mayor of London, appeared to move in the opposite direction.
“Ministers should … give me the power to introduce a system of rent controls that work for London,” he said. He wants the power to freeze rents for two years.
The two positions are not necessarily opposed as Nandy appears to be against mandating rent cuts while Khan wants a rent freeze. But the National Residential Landlords Association seized on the shadow housing secretary’s position.
“We agree with Labour that rent controls would do nothing to address the rental supply crisis that tenants across the country now face,” said Ben Beadle, its chief executive.
“What renters need is a proper plan to boost the supply of homes for private rent alongside all other tenures. Housing benefit rates should also be unfrozen without delay to support vulnerable tenants who are struggling to access the rental market.”
