• This report demonstrates that well-designed rent controls are a viable option for the government, as part of a strategy to tackle problems in the private rental sector.

• High rents have strained living standards for two decades, with nearly 1 in 5 UK households now renting privately and facing insecurity, poverty and homelessness.

• The Government’s target of 1.5 million new homes will aid affordability long-term, but supply reforms will not cut rents in the short-term, so rent controls need to be returned to the policy debate.

• Rewinding to pre-1989 rent controls is not an option; modern controls must be designed to improve affordability without creating loss-making landlords who sell up and displace tenants.

• The baseline scenario shows inaction is costly: tenancies exposed to loss-making landlords rise from 10% in 2024 to 17% by 2031, driven mainly by rising mortgage costs.

• Three rent-control pathways are modelled from 2027/28: a CPI-linked cap, a nominal rent freeze, and moderate control (in-tenancy at CPI, between-tenancy at CPI +2%).

• Each pathway is paired with two fiscal reforms: restoring full mortgage-interest deductibility (reversing Section 24) and applying National Insurance to landlord property income.

• All three pathways keep landlord returns positive and reduce the share of tenancies exposed to loss-making landlords below the 2031 baseline, revealing a modest trade-off between affordability and returns.

• Mortgage financing costs, not rent controls, are the dominant driver of viability for landlords.