London Labour hopeful wants rent caps and licensing...

One of the Labour hopefuls for the 2016 mayoral election in London has called for the introduction of rent caps in the capital and across the country.

Dame Tessa Jowell, a former secretary of state in the Blair era, says in a newspaper article promoting her ambitions in the Mirror newspaper: “Labour has long argued for rent caps to stop tenants being ripped off by massive year on year price hikes. I’d like to see the government look seriously at taking that policy and putting it in to action.”

She then says: “Londoners have been telling me about their housing horrors all summer – squalid conditions, hazardous boilers, and uncaring landlords.

"More and more people are renting – it’s about time we gave them the protection they deserve. That's why I’d like to see compulsory landlord licensing to stop rogue landlords ripping people off.”

Dame Tessa then suggests that “British rents are now so high you could be better off jetting in to London four days a week than taking out a tenancy in the north of the city. The commute would be a nightmare but you’d have enough left over to unwind in style with a Real Madrid season ticket or a weekly spa treatment at the local Ritz.”