Rachel Reeves considering freeze of private rent?

I make about £200 a month on my house.
When my deal comes to an end , I could end up in a deficit after tax etc. some months I don’t make anything. This year for example I’ve had 4 months without rent. Replaced things and repairs. 1 increase in 4 years.
So I’m not a career landlord , just me who moved in with a partner and kept my house for security for the future.

I don’t think it’s going to happen but the article talks about a one year freeze which isn’t the same as rent control and i can’t see why it would impact landlords who should really only raise rents annually anyway. They skip a year, not the end of the world.

i don’t think rent control works unless you heavily regulate the sector

There is precedent though, in energy bills for example, or rail fares (I am not saying it's a good idea BTW, just pointing out the example)

I'd be interested to understand more how this has worked in other counties but my initial thought it that with lots of LLs exiting the market anyway, surely this is going to ultimately exacerbate the problem?

Surely the only reliable way to reduse housing costs is to increase supply (more house building) or decrease demand (fewer people)?

I thought we lived in a free market economy.

No it's not OK for the Government to tell anyone how much they can charge for something.

It sets a dangerous precedence for overstepping control.

Well, no that's not OK! I haven't read the article but assume this is rent across the board?. So again, that's great for some people, but no help for working people with mortgages - like me who's about to come off the historical low fixed rate!
And what about if it's a small landlord who's mortgage is about to go up, if the rent is frozen that will push the financial burden onto the landlord.

And.... if you lose your job you can claim benefits you can get help with your rent, no ones helping me pay my mortgage if I'm made redundant though.

Rent freezes distort the housing market. They reduce landlords’ income while their costs - mortgages, insurance, maintenance and repairs - keep rising. As a result:

• Many landlords sell up or exit the sector, shrinking the supply of rental homes.

• Fewer people invest in new rental properties, worsening the housing shortage.

• Landlords have less incentive (and less money) to maintain or improve properties, so housing quality declines over time.

• In the uncontrolled parts of the market (e.g. new tenancies), rents often end up higher because of reduced supply.

We’ve seen this pattern in places like Berlin, Scotland and various US cities - short-term relief for some sitting tenants, but fewer homes available overall and higher rents for those trying to get on the ladder or move.

There are only two solutions to high rents in economically weak times that don't make the economy worse - stop the rapid population rise and redress what's happened with immigration over the last few years, and / or build more houses.

Well if there is some kind of mortgage interest rate control going hand in hand then maybe I'd agree!

My instinct here is that trying to control the market like this can have adverse affects - I mean I can see new rentals inflating hugely to offset long term rent freezes being one of them.

If she really wanted to get cost of living under control, fix income tax thresholds and sack off all these green levies.