RENT rates could be controlled in Oxford in the future to help people struggling with the high costs of living in the city.

Plans to set an Oxford Living Rent took their first step when they were discussed by Oxford City Council at its meeting on Tuesday.

The council agreed to write to the new government after the general election on December 12 asking for the power to establish rent controls for private properties and enforce them.

It also agreed a report should be commissioned into how a living rent might be set.

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As part of this there would also be a yearly review of the private rented sector in Oxford to find out what an acceptable living rent would look like.

Green councillor Dick Wolff, who proposed the idea of setting a living rent, said there needed to be a ‘more robust’ system to decide how rents should be set, and this could only be done when the council had a better idea of the current picture.

Mr Wolff said property prices in the city had soared over the last decade while wages had stagnated.

Oxford Mail:

Dick Wolff.

He said: “There seems to be a general view that living rent should be no more than 25 per cent to 35 per cent of net income at maximum.”

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Wolff said there needed to be a lot of discussion of what the Oxford Living Rent might look like if it becomes a reality.

He said it could result in a voluntary scheme which landlords could sign up to, similar to the Oxford Living Wage scheme.

It could also result in the council being given the power to legally enforce an upper limit of rent on landlords.

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Mr Wolff added: “What these controls are and how they work needs people with more expertise than I have got.”

The Oxford Living Rent proposal garnered support from councillors of different political parties across the city council chamber.

Lib Dem group leader Andrew Gant said he was happy to support the motion, and added that rent controls had been used in the past in times of economic hardship.

Labour cabinet member Mike Rowley said: “As the motion says, the council has limited influence on the private sector. I do hope to see the time when that is not the case, but it rather depends on the result of the general election.”

Councillors also discussed what form the rent controls might take in the future, based on models currently in use.

Oxford Mail:

London already operates a Living Rent scheme. Picture: Yui Mok/PA Wire.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, a charity which works to alleviate poverty across the UK, set out a concept for the living rent in a 2015 report.

It suggested that the rate should be set at roughly a third of monthly earnings, rather than by the market value of a house.

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The London Living Rent scheme run by the Mayor of London currently operates on a basis similar to the JRF’s model.

It is a ‘genuinely affordable’ housing scheme for middle income families priced out of the market in the capital and helps them to still have enough money to save for a house after paying rent.

The council also discussed rent controls in Germany, which are set across districts or neighbourhoods rather than by landlords negotiating with individual tenants.

Both Germany and France have a culture of lifelong renting instead of house buying, the council heard.