Jeremy Corbyn talks more sense on housing in one BBC interview than parliament ever does

In an interview for BBC London, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn ended the nonsense on housing through demanding the government brings back rent controls.

Jeremy Corbyn: landlords “exploiting” the need for housing

He said:

There were rent controls in this country until Margaret Thatcher came along. There are still rent controls in New York, in San Francisco and in many countries across Europe… It seems to me a reasonable way of preventing excessive profits being made out of the private rented sector and exploiting people who are in desperate housing need

For more than 70 years, between WWI and the late 1980s, the UK had a system of rent control. Short of stopping treating housing like an asset altogether, it’s a policy that could drive down poverty and put more pounds in peoples’ pockets – as Labour has repeatedly pledged to do.

Resolution Foundation analysis has revealed that over one million children would actually not be in poverty were it not for eye-watering housing costs and particularly private sector rents.

In many European countries there is some control over rents. In Sweden, tenant unions and landlords negotiate rents based on average earnings, inflation, and costs. In the UK, we do not have such a procedure and under 45s alone wasted £56.2bn in passive income for landlords in 2024.

Modern civilised societies don’t let people sleep on the streets.

My interview with @BBCLondonNews on the urgent need for rent controls. pic.twitter.com/n97ns7Nn3V

— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) February 4, 2025

A “modern civilised society” should look different

The independent MP for Islington North (after Keir Starmer purged him from Labour) continued:

Don’t people have a  right to a roof over their head? Is it good, is it right that so many people sleep rough every night. Is it right that in a modern, civilised society – can’t we say there’s a guarantee of a roof over your head?

Since 2010, the number of people sleeping rough has more than doubled. There are 3,900 people sleeping rough on any given night. Also, in England, 85% of people rough sleeping are men. We should house both genders. There are over 1.5 million vacant homes in the UK.

Further, the number of homeless people – at around 354,000, a 14% rise on last year, could be sorted through these vacant properties. Once they have housing security, they can pay affordable sums towards ownership.

In the Commons in September, Corbyn spoke of increasing social housing through such means:

The priority of all our community [should be] a sufficient supply of good quality, well designed council housing… We have the potential to build some wonderful places. We also have the potential to take over many empty properties and convert them into council or social housing…

In the BBC London interview, the former Labour Party leader argued for the government to go further on its Renters’ Rights Bill. This is another piece of legislation where Starmer is only making progress because the bar is so low.

At present, the UK has some of the weakest renter rights in all of Europe. The bill would address some issues through ending ‘no fault’ evictions – a concession to landlords so shocking one would be right in assuming Margaret Thatcher introduced it (she did, in 1988).

Featured image via screengrab