SirChenjin I disagree. Rent controls do work in other countries - and whilst I don't think they are the only answer they are one option that I think should be used (as well as others)
Rent controls don't tend to go along with landlords providing much in the way of standards and services, unless they are state owned concerns or charities not set up to make profits. Rent controls tend to only work in countries which have tenants staying for long periods in properties they basically treat as their own, and that tends to mean paying or doing the maintenance, decoration, etc themselves. That's what happens in The Netherlands. The standard of privately rented housing in The Netherlands can be pretty appalling, and most of it simply wouldn't be allowed by HMO Regulations here. It costs far too much to provide the higher standard of rented housing for rent controls to work - you either have one or the other.
Even in Germany, tenants are expected to do far more for themselves. And because so many people rent, once you get a nice property (which can mean a one bedroom flat as opposed to a studio), you hang onto it because its so difficult to find something else. More likely, you will end up living in a tower block on the outskirts for a few years as your first rental, desperately scanning the papers every Friday for something better. And if theres something wrong with your "dream" 1 bed, you don't complain about it, because you know how lucky you are to have it.
Dont forget there are many LLs who arent in negative equity - letting is a profitable business for plenty of them. Simply building more houses just isn't the answer.
We talk about 5-8% as being quite a good profit margin in rental property. That's easily lost, and often doesn't mean much after tax is deducted if they are higher rate taxpayers. There are plenty of landlords who are subsidising rental properties from their own money, just to use it as a pension for their futures, particularly when you take voids into account. I think any substantial rejigging of the market might result in a property crash. Look at what happened in Ireland.
I agree re the massive new housebuilding. Who buys these 5 bed detacheds at £500,000 plus? I think much of the problem is zoning and our planning system favouring big developers. If we had more self build, it would encourage people to do more for themselves as well as save money. Strangely enough, in countries like Denmark and Belgium, a lot of people do tend to do far more in their own homes whereas I think many Brits would simply pay someone to do the same thing. Again, our legislation encourages that.