The Guardian view on rent capping: a step in the right direction

theguardian.com:

Rent rises for social housing tenants in England are to be capped for either one year or two, following a consultation. In Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon has announced plans for a rent freeze for private as well as social tenants, and a ban on evictions over the winter. With plans for longer-term rent controls already promised by the Scottish government, as part of the SNP’s agreement with the Scottish Greens, these new measures are – like the Conservative plan for England – a response to an escalating cost of living and poverty crisis. That Scottish ministers are prepared to go so much further ought to worry Liz Truss, and prompt her to do more. The UK’s housing market is broken, and private renters as well as social ones need help.

But councils and housing associations, too, are in a difficult situation. To hold rent rises down below the rate of inflation, without compensating social landlords for lost income, is not tenable. Comparable steps would be making school meals free without giving schools the money to pay for them, or abolishing prescription charges without funding the NHS to pay for medicines. Housing associations and local authorities need income in order to manage and repair homes and build new ones. If the government is to reduce their incomes, it must fill the resulting hole in their finances. The need for energy-efficiency measures to keep bills down and curb emissions, and the shortage of properties for social rent, make the need for investment all the more pressing.

The Treasury stands to gain from any cap on social rent rises. Because most social housing tenants rely on benefits to pay rent, ministers are effectively holding down their own bills. (Though with the cap in England to be set between 3% and 7%,