Seeking clarity from Mayor on rent control asks

Dear Sadiq,

Clarity on calls for devolved powers to cap rents

At Mayor’s Question Time on 11 September 2025, I asked whether you had been asking Government for rent control powers via the Government’s upcoming Devolution Bill.

You said, “One of the things that I have been lobbying the Government for up until getting this power is for it to devolve to different parts of the country the ability to have rent control […] We are going to carry on - prior to the Bill becoming an Act of Parliament - lobbying for that […] I can assure [Zoë] this is one of the things at the top of my list to request from the Government in terms of stuff that we should be getting devolved from the centre outwards.”

Yet, the following week, Government Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook MP said, “The government has not received direct representations from the Mayor of London or Mayors of other Strategic Authorities in respect of rent controls, and we have not discussed their introduction at a local level."

Please could you a) explain the apparent discrepancy between your answers at MQT and the statement from the Housing Minister, and b) reassure London’s renters you are fighting for them by writing publicly to the Government calling for the powers you need to cap rents.

Kind regards,

Zoë Garbett
Green Party London Assembly Member