A long-standing Conservative Party figure has issued a strong warning against the reintroduction of rent controls, branding them “the mullet hairstyle of policies – both very bad and back in fashion.”

David Gauke – former MP for Hertfordshire, ex-Work and Pensions Secretary, and more recently an adviser on prisons to the Starmer government – makes his case in a column for Conservative Home.

Gauke argues that:

• Landlords must be free to rent at market price: “Landlords should be allowed to rent out their properties at the market price,” he insists, adding that recent controversy over Labour housing minister Rushanara Ali’s landlord status exposed hypocrisy, not illegality.

• Rising rents have fuelled resentment: He acknowledges private renters spend an average of 39% of their income on housing, compared with 20% for mortgaged homeowners, fuelling political pressure for intervention.

• Labour may struggle to resist calls: With pressure from the left, Jeremy Corbyn and the Greens, he suggests Labour could be forced into adopting rent controls in some form, particularly in inner-city seats.

But Gauke is dismissive of their effectiveness: “Landlords decide either to sell their properties or cease to invest in their upkeep. This means that those seeking tenancies lose out and, in the longer run, the quality of rental properties declines.”

He warns that far from protecting tenants, rent controls ultimately harm them by reducing supply and investment.

As party conference season looms, Gauke predicts rent controls will return to the political agenda as activists push Labour to take a more interventionist stance.

📖 Read Gauke’s full article here: Conservative Home