The Bristol Mayor has said the chances the Government will allow Bristol to hold a trial on rent caps are "not high".
His words come as people struggling in Bristol’s crazy private rental housing market are being invited to share their experiences and help make the case for more rent controls.
Mayor Marvin Rees has previously said he wants to ask the Government to let Bristol trial rent caps - but first needs to be sure how renters think they could work, and what other controls could be put in place to ease the spiralling cycle of rising rents, evictions, and people being priced out of the city.
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Speaking during a press briefing today (February 16), Bristol mayor Marvin Rees said the chances the Government will let Bristol hold a trial on rent caps are not high.
He said: "I do not think that rent controls are the kind of intervention this Conservative government are inclined towards.
"I think their emphasis is much more on home ownership, and we certainly have that emphasis. There are people who would say there are political calculations towards that."
Mr Rees said that the council will be hosting a Renters' Summit next month and, during the course of that, they will work on a proposal for a rent cap. Benefits for a rent cap would include more stable, healthier communities, he said.
An appeal has gone out to people with experience of Bristol’s renting market to get involved and share their views ahead of the Renting Summit.
The city council has teamed up with the Bristol Fair Renting Campaign, which is supported by Shelter, and the community union ACORN, to host the event on Wednesday, March 2, which will discuss what rent controls might look like in Bristol, as well as how the council are using their existing powers and if there are other powers they could use.
The summit is an online one, with the Mayor of Bristol saying he is determined to raise the issue nationally, and get Bristol to be the first place in the country to pilot rent controls. Currently, there is nothing stopping landlords charging whatever they like for a rental property anywhere in Britain - the last rent cap rules were repealed by the Thatcher Government in 1988.
In Bristol, where demand for rental property vastly exceeds supply, that means rents are skyrocketing, with the average price of a rented property now well over £1,000 a month in most parts of Bristol. Marvin Rees said the summit aimed to start a conversation with people in Bristol about rent controls, reviewing examples of how it has worked in other countries, and considering the best system for Bristol.
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