Labour will not introduce rent controls if it wins the election, Lisa Nandy has said.
Speaking on Tuesday, the shadow levelling up secretary said while it would “cut rents for some” it would leave “others homeless”.
Nandy said had said in September she was “very interested and attracted” to letting local mayors and councils freeze rents.
“I think doing nothing is not an option,” she told the party’s annual conference.
It puts her at odds with London mayor Sadiq Khan and Manchester’s Andy Burnham, who both back rent controls.
But the move has been welcomed by the National Residential Landlords Association.
“We agree with Labour that rent controls would do nothing to address the rental supply crisis that tenants across the country now face,” the lobbying group said.
“What renters need is a proper plan to boost the supply of homes for private rent alongside all other tenures.”
Speaking today, Nandy said: “When housebuilding is falling off a cliff and buy to let landlords are leaving the market, rent controls that cut rents for some, will almost certainly leave others homeless.
“It might be politically easier to put a sticking plaster on our deep-seated problems, but if it is cowardice that got us here, it is never going to get us out.”
It came as Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak clashed at PMQs over the government’s record on housebuilding.
The Labour leader accused the prime minister of having “given up” and was “shuttering the dream of those who desperately want to own their own home”