As over one third of all Londoners struggle to afford rent rises, newly elected Zoë Garbett used her first Mayor’s Question Time to press for a London Private Rent Commission and additional rent controls to finally tackle rising rents across the city. [1]
Despite promising to create a rent commission in his 2019 private renters’ blueprint, the Mayor continued to drag his heels, misguidedly attempting to shift blame onto the national government for a stalled pledge within his control. [2]
In response to the Mayor’s lacklustre pledge, Green Party London Assembly Member Zoë Garbett said:
“The Mayor says he understands how desperately Londoners need cheaper rents, but his blueprint for solving the crisis is now five years old and not even remotely close to success.
“Where is his universal register of landlords? Where is the London private rents commission? Where is the reduction in rents the Mayor himself called for?
“There are 3 million people living in rented accommodation in London. Not one of them should wait a day longer for their Mayor to bring down the sky-rocketing rents. Setting up a rent commission to review the state of renting and propose a model of rent control is something the Mayor could do now. "