Rent controls could soon be needed in Bristol to stop housing costs becoming “increasingly unaffordable”, according to Labour councillors. Bristol City Council will face a vote next week on potentially bringing in rent controls, despite not yet having the legal powers to do so.
Just under a third of homes in Bristol are privately rented, according to council figures, and the cost of privately renting a home in the city has increased by more than 50 per cent over the past decade. Rocketing rents are also considered a huge factor in the increase of homelessness.
Council chiefs are lobbying the government to change the law, giving them the power to potentially introduce rent controls. This would see tenants protected from their landlords increasing rents, with caps possibly linked to inflation or average local wages.
