Rent controls and tougher landlord rules among Labour candidate’s pledges

Labour’s mayoral candidate for Greater Manchester has pledged to introduce rent controls and strengthen the city’s Good Landlord Charter.

Under Labour’s manifesto, the party has also promised to limit the number of HMOs and build 50,000 affordable homes by 2039.

Manchester’s mayoral election will take place on 30 July, with Bev Craig, the current leader of Manchester City Council, standing as the Labour candidate.

A good home is the foundation of a good life

Ms Craig says in the manifesto: “A good home is the foundation of a good life. Greater Manchester needs homes for the people who live and work here, not just flats for investors or developments local families are priced out of.

“I know first-hand the security a council house brings and my mission will be to deliver more council, social and affordable homes than we have done in over a generation, homes people here can genuinely afford to rent or to buy.

“We will make housing more affordable, protect and grow the green spaces our children and future generations deserve, and use every power we have to tackle homelessness, because no one should be without a safe place to sleep.”

Introduce rent controls

Under the plans, Labour would limit HMOs in areas where there are already high concentrations, aiming to reduce overcrowding and anti-social behaviour by expanding Article 4 directions for smaller HMOs.

Ms Craig has also pledged to strengthen Andy Burnham’s Good Landlord Charter by requiring any landlord seeking local funding, such as retrofit schemes, to sign up to the initiative.

Launched in April last year, the Charter aims to ensure every resident has access to a safe, secure, affordable and healthy home by 2038.

The Charter, the first of its kind in the UK, has attracted more than 100 landlords from both the social and private sectors, who have committed to raising standards beyond existing legal requirements.

Ms Craig has also said she would call for national powers to introduce rent controls in Greater Manchester. In the meantime, she plans to establish a Commission on Rents to examine how rent limits, caps or controls could work across the region.

Other pledges include creating a Greater Manchester-wide Renters’ Rights Unit to support renters, enforce the Renters’ Rights Act and take action against bad landlords, as well as an empty homes plan aimed at tackling empty properties in Manchester through the use of Empty Dwelling Management Orders and compulsory purchase powers.