Responding to recently published official figures that revealed that private rents are falling in real terms, David Smith, the policy director at the Residential Landlords Association, said: “(The) figures show that the market is working. It demonstrates clearly that introducing rent controls linked to inflation, as called for by some, would leave tenants worse off as rents would rise faster than they currently are.

“It is vital that the Government stops blaming landlords for the housing crisis and introduces positive, pro-growth measures, to support the majority of landlords who do a good job in providing the homes to rent the country desperately needs. All the talk of longer tenancies will mean nothing if the homes to rent are not there in the first place.”

According to the data published by the Office for National Statistics, private rental prices paid by tenants in the UK rose by 1.3% in the 12 months to July 2019, unchanged since May 2019. In London they rose by 0.9% in the 12 months to July 2019, unchanged since May 2019. Over the same period, inflation was 2.1% as measured by the CPI and 2.8% as measured by the RPI.