As the run up to next year’s elections for the Mayor of London begins in earnest, former holder of the position Ken Livingstone is trying to woo the private tenants in the capital’s private rental sector.
The former Labour MP says that if he is elected one of his first priorities will be to target landlords who are charging tenants too much rent. He plans to set up a “living rent” scheme which will never be more than one third of the tenants income and plans to set a “not for profit” lettings agency across the whole of London which will aid tenants find decent accommodation.
The news comes as landlords in and around London are experiencing something of a golden era with rental yields and rental expectancies growing almost by the day. Property investors with an interest in buy to let insurance hold sway over the housing market and of course not everyone is happy about that.
At a meeting of a London think tank, Mr Livingstone said: “Too many Londoners pay more than one third of their income in rent. That benchmark should be the indicator that drives us in our work to improve the living standards of Londoners from all walks of life.”
He asserted his intention to take a hand in the market by creating a letting agency saying: “It will put good tenants in touch with good landlords across the spectrum of private renting so that both can benefit from security of tenure and reduce the costs of letting.”
His ideas were met with derision by representatives of present Mayor, Boris Johnson. A spokesman said the position of Mayor did not give the incumbent legal powers to go round creating letting agencies nor did it have the funding. He went on to say: “Whatever the ideological appeal, the mayor does not have the power to introduce them and even if he did, they would be devastating for the construction industry. It would result in fewer homes being built and lead landlords to invest less in their stock.”
There is certain to be more hot air exchanged between the two camps before Election Day and Londoners can guarantee the campaigns will neither be dull nor boring.