The housing sector deserves better than being threatened with rent caps
The rental sector delivers not only homes but creates jobs and sustains communities. The government should recognise that, revalue the rental sector and stop demonising the very people and institutions building the homes Britain desperately needs, says Brendan Geraghty
There are moments in life when you read a headline and feel genuine disbelief, and yesterday was one of them. Reports in the press that the Chancellor is actively considering a rent freeze in England, some may say conveniently one week before local elections and barely 72 hours before the Renters’ Rights Act comes into force, are not just misguided, they’re reckless.
The rental sector, its millions of residents, the millions more waiting for a home and indeed the landlords offering safe, secure homes, deserve better than this. Instead of reportedly examining rent freeze measures to lessen the impact of the cost of living from Westminster, why not speak with the practitioners on the ground, every day, living and breathing the rental sector about what that would do? And when I say a rent freeze would be a disaster, I’m telling you what we, as representatives of those who invest in, build and operate Britain’s rental homes, know.
Scotland tried it in September 2022 with the Scottish Government introducing emergency rent controls, freezing rents at 0 per cent and later capping increases at three per cent. The result? Inward investment stalled, forward-funding pipelines dried up, developers walked away, supply fell and rents, over the medium term, went higher not lower.
Step back from the brink
The very people the policy was designed to protect were left worse off and it took the Build to Rent sector and its representative body the Association for Rental Living, working closely with government to step back from the brink and establish protections that actually work. England shouldn’t have to repeat that same experiment.
Build to Rent is one of the few mechanisms capable of delivering good quality, new homes at scale and at pace, in places where housing is needed most
The government has stated, and re-stated, its ambition to deliver 1.5m new homes in this parliamentary term and Build to Rent is one of the few mechanisms capable of delivering good quality, new homes at scale and at pace, in places where housing is needed most. Even musing concepts such as rent freezes will destroy the investment confidence that makes those homes possible.
The chilling effect of speculation alone is real. We saw it around the Autumn 2025 Budget, when markets repriced on rumour alone. Words from the Treasury are not neutral, they move capital which makes the seemingly internal contradiction within this government all the more baffling.
Just days ago, housing minister Matthew Pennycook set out clearly that the government does not support rent controls; then the Chancellor appears to be, according to reports, heading in precisely the opposite direction. Now No 10 has slapped her down. This doesn’t appear to be joined-up thinking and when it comes to an issue of such national importance as housing, so much so that addressing the crisis is a measurable milestone in the government’s Plan for Change, this is surely critical.
We’d welcome a conversation with the Chancellor and government ministers, not about a theoretical study undertaken or the conclusions of a lengthy working group but a real conversation between those who understand this sector from the inside and policymakers. The Association for Rental Living has that knowledge and we’re ready to share it, but for that conversation to happen, the Government must accept that housing is not a political football. The rental sector delivers not only homes but creates jobs and sustains communities. Recognise that, redefine the narrative around it and above all, revalue the rental sector and stop demonising the very people and institutions building the homes Britain desperately needs.
Brendan Geraghty is chief executive of the Association for Rental Living the UK trade body for the Build to Rent and rental living sector