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DERMOT MURNAGHAN: Well now, housing policy is back on the political agenda in a way it hasn’t been for decades.  Home ownership has of course fallen to its lowest level for thirty years and a report out earlier this week found that private sector rents had gone up by more than £100 a month since the last general election.  Well the Conservatives have promised to revive the Thatcherite right to buy scheme allowing Housing Association tenants to buy their homes at a discount but what about the so-called General Rent in the private sector?  I’m joined now by Labour’s Shadow Housing Minister, Emma Reynolds, a very good morning to you Ms Reynolds.  Now the policy announcement is about limiting rent increases to the rate of inflation but this is something you said wouldn’t work as recently as January last year.

EMMA REYNOLDS: Well I’ve been misquoted I think you’ll find, I said that 1970s rent control would not work and that’s not what we’re suggesting.  We are not suggesting that the government determines the level of rent at the start of the tenancy, the rent level would be negotiated as it is at the moment between the landlord and the start of the tenancy.  We are simply saying that people deserve more stability, security and peace of mind during a three year tenancy during which rent increases could not be higher than inflation during the time of those three year tenancies.  

DM: So how quickly would this happen if you come into power?  

EMMA REYNOLDS: Well we would legislate for this in the first Queen’s Speech and we expect to be able to introduce this in 2017.

DM: Okay but you’ve got to deal with the rate of inflation now, it’s zero percent, so you would have no rent increases if the rate of inflation is zero percent?

EMMA REYNOLDS: It would depend on the level of inflation.  Last year it was 1.6%, we are simply saying that rents should not increase beyond inflation during the three years of those tenancies because eleven million people now rent …

DM: But it is an important point for buy to let landlords and people like that, one of the predictions from the OBR is that inflation will actually go the other way and we’ll enter a period of deflation.  How closely would you mirror that rate?  Will you make landlords cut rents if it goes negative?

EMMA REYNOLDS: No, we will not, this is about rent increases, this is about limiting rent increases so if inflation is negative we would not force down rents but rent increases should be no higher than inflation during the period of the tenancy because at the moment there are families with children who are settling in the private rented sector because they can’t afford to own their own homes, home ownership being at its lowest level for thirty years, or they can’t get into social housing and sometimes the rent is being hiked up from year to year, they simply don’t know what’s going to happen from year to year and sometimes they are having to change schools for their children, they are having to shift their children from school to school and it is really, really insecure and unstable for those parents with children and we have lots of people now over the age of 35 renting privately which wasn’t the case 20 or 30 years ago …

DM: You also want to penalise rogue landlords don’t you?  How are you going to identify these rogue landlords and what are you going to do to them?

EMMA REYNOLDS: Sure, well we want to introduce a national register of landlords but local authorities are already at the forefront of …

DM: So you’d have to register if you want to rent out a house or a flat?

EMMA REYNOLDS: Absolutely, local authorities are at the forefront of enforcing standards in the private rented sector.  They are already in the process of chasing the rogue landlords, this is for the very worse landlords. They would not be able to, under our system, claim the 10% wear and tear allowance …

DM: So these very worst landlords, what do they do?  Who identifies them?  Is it the tenant who says I think my  landlord is a rogue landlord?   

EMMA REYNOLDS: The tenants can complain but also local authorities can take their own action.  Local authorities have a responsibility already to serve enforcement notices to the very worst landlords.

DM: And then you get HMRC involved to take away their tax relief?

EMMA REYNOLDS: Absolutely.  

DM: And the police, criminal action?

EMMA REYNOLDS: Well, in some parts of London the police have been involved.  We are making sure that landlords are not evading tax because some are not paying their tax into HMRC.  This is simply about saying that there are rogue landlords out there, they are in a minority, there are good landlords out there as well but there are some rogue landlords who are acting often in a criminal way and keeping people in very, very poor standards.  Some of the standards that I’ve seen in east London are pretty Dickensian frankly and we are simply saying they should not benefit from the 10% wear and tear allowance that other landlords benefit from.  

DM: And they could even be arrested?   

EMMA REYNOLDS: Well if they are engaged in criminal activity, then yes, they will be arrested.  

DM: Emma Reynolds, thank you very much indeed, very good to see you.