Rent freeze call by Plaid Cymru voted down by Labour

Labour has voted down a call to freeze rents, warning it could backfire if landlords remove homes from the market.

In a Senedd debate, Plaid Cymru urged Labour MSs to "be brave" by freezing rents and banning evictions through the winter.

Plaid made the call after the Scottish Parliament passed legislation to freeze most rents until March 2023.

Ministers have said they will look at what happens in Scotland, but warned of "unintended consequences".

A freeze could prompt landlords to stop letting homes or hike rents before they are frozen, the Welsh government says.

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Urging Labour Senedd members to "be brave, be bold", Plaid Cymru's Mabon ap Gwynfor said: "Here today we have a proposal to at least do something to help many of those threatened with homelessness this winter, as opposed to doing nothing."

Housing Minister Julie James said the Welsh government had increased funding to local councils to help tenants with their bills.

Instead of freezing all rents - which could have "very serious unintended consequences" - she said the government wanted to "target the support at the people who are most vulnerable and make sure they stay in their homes".

"We don't want to drive landlords away from the sector," she said.

She called on the UK government to unfreeze housing allowance, which has not kept up with rent rises.

'Volatile, complex and risky'

Some Labour backbenchers called for long-term rent controls, something the Welsh government is considering.

It has promised to publish proposals on making rent more affordable in a white paper.

Labour Swansea East MS Mike Hedges said a rent freeze was "superficially attractive", but could encourage landlords to switch to "the Wild West of housing - Airbnb".

Carolyn Thomas, Labour north Wales MS, said: "The time for a private rent freeze isn't now. The situation is too volatile, complex and risky under the UK government's political, economic crisis."

Conservative MS Janet Finch-Saunders said rent controls were a "nightmare" and that Plaid's debate "tries to do down the private rented sector."