A row has broken out at Belfast Council after Sinn Féin and the DUP blocked a proposal for the local authority to have rent controls over landlords in the city.
At a special meeting of the Belfast City Council City Growth and Regeneration Committee the two largest parties blocked a proposal by People Before Profit to ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and any future Stormont Minister to devolve powers to control rent prices to councils here. Alliance, the SDLP and the Greens supported the PBP proposal.
The motion used the example of Bristol City Council, which voted to control rents last month, and vowed that Belfast would write to that council to share findings and learn more about its Living Rent Commission.
