CAMPAIGNERS have welcomed the call from Zack Polanski to give mayors the power to apply rent controls within their regions.

Outlining one of his plans to “lower people’s bills” today, the Green Party leader said rent control should be a key focus for the government as renters are some of those hardest hit by the cost-of-living crisis.

“The problem we need to fix is spiralling rents,” Mr Polanski told the BBC’s  Laura Kuenssberg, pointing to “16 European countries that have brought in rent controls.”

Mr Polanski called for Britain to adopt a similar system of rent controls based on successful models.

“I think that mayors should be given the powers for rent controls,” he added.

“Right now people are really struggling. People who run small businesses, people who are unemployed. Even people who run big businesses are really feeling the pinch.

“But one of the groups that is feeling it the most is renters. They’re stuck between people who own their own house and people who have a council house.

“They’re stuck in an overinflated market where landlords can often charge what they want.”

He said the best way to tackle high rents would be to give mayors new powers to implement rent controls directly within their own regions.

The Green leader also indicated that he is not opposed to rent controls on a national or local level, while maintaining that increasing the housing stock should continue to be a priority for the government.

Generation Rent head of campaigns Nye Jones told the Morning Star that allowing mayors to limit rent was not only right but a necessary action.

“The government can and must act through devolving powers to mayors to limit rent increases in their areas,” he said.

“Homes are the foundations of our lives, but high rents push people into homelessness and trap them in temporary accommodation, they pull children into poverty and prevent people from saving for the future.

“We rightly have caps on our energy and water bills — but the same protections don’t exist to stop landlords from pricing us out of our homes.”

Outlining his party’s goals to legalise and regulate drugs, the Green leader also declared that he has never taken drugs, nor even drunk alcohol, in his life.