Party demands eviction ban as first step on road to rent controls

Another political party is calling for a winter eviction ban as the first part of a reform programme for the private rental sector, which would also include a rent freeze.

Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalist party, has only 13 seats in the 60-seat Welsh Parliament but has a cooperation agreement with the largest party - Labour - which itself has just 30 seats and so lacks an overall majority. 

Plaid leader Adam Price told his party conference over the weekend that an eviction ban and rent freeze would be part of a five-element programme which was "socially just and instantly deliverable" and would alleviate the cost of living crisis.

Attacking the chaotic scenes in Westminster in recent weeks, Price says: "Enough is enough, because the fall-out of decisions taken by Number 10 - the office of budget irresponsibility - goes beyond the money markets. Make no mistake, the cuts are coming - ripping through not trickling down into our public services."

Plaid’s so-called People’s Plan includes:

- Reverse the October energy price rises to a cap of £1,277 for average usage and extend the cap beyond next April;

- Increase universal credit by £25 and hike all benefits in line with inflation;

- Freeze rents in the private rental sector and ban evictions this winter;

- Freeze rail fares for 2023, sell more off-peak tickets at half-price and cap bus fares at £2; and 

- Provide free school meal to all secondary school pupils, starting with children in families receiving universal credit.

Scottish Nationalists and the Green Party  - in a similar cooperation agreement in the Scottish Parliament - have introduced rent controls for both the private and social housing sectors north of the border, plus an eviction ban. All take effect until March 2023 but are open to extension for up to an additional 12 months.