Skip to main content
Housing in crisis: delaying meaningful change to a broken private rental system
The Welsh government is shying away from the obvious answer to a spiralling rental market and increased housing precarity – well-designed and implemented rent controls, writes LUKE FLETCHER
STED SYSTEM: Housing in Grangetown, Cardiff

THE cost of renting in Wales has only gone one way — and that’s up. Soaring rents, widespread housing precarity, and an imbalance of power between tenants and landlords have pushed many to the edge. Yet, despite the urgent need for change, the Welsh government’s action on housing has failed to seriously consider one of the most obvious solutions: rent controls.

Instead of acknowledging rent controls as a viable way of easing the burden on renters, the Welsh government’s white paper “on securing a path towards Adequate Housing, including Fair Rents and Affordability,” launched in October 2024, dismisses them based on a lack of evidence.

But here’s the truth: renters are struggling and the private rental sector is broken. We don’t need more data to know that private rents have skyrocketed and that people are being priced out of their own communities. The Welsh government’s refusal to act is a glaring failure to address the core issue.

Liberation webinar, 30 November2024, 6pm (UK)
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
wind farm
Features / 22 March 2025
22 March 2025
LUKE FLETCHER fleshes out Plaid Cymru's plan for the revitalisation of Wales's economy
An elderly woman walks with the aid of a cane in Old Havana,
Features / 25 February 2025
25 February 2025
After Joe Biden’s cynical last-minute clemency for Cuba, the new administration has quickly returned to maximum subversive tactics. This socialist island needs our support now more than ever, writes LUKE FLETCHER MS
windfarm
Features / 7 December 2024
7 December 2024
LUKE FLETCHER is concerned by the vagueness of Great British Energy's promised benefits to communities in Wales
NOT ENOUGH: Rachel Reeves leaves 11 Downing Street, with her
Features / 2 November 2024
2 November 2024
The first Budget of the Labour government falls far short of addressing Wales’s needs, maintaining austerity-era policies while providing inadequate funding for critical services and infrastructure, writes LUKE FLETCHER MS
Similar stories
11 - Basra
Opinion / 14 November 2024
14 November 2024
Genocide, racism and imperialism are in the Labour Party’s DNA, argues TOM SYKES
Colombian President Gustavo Petro
Features / 6 November 2024
6 November 2024
Progressive Latin American governments face heightened pressure and threats after taking strong stances on Gaza, writes JOHN PERRY, the latest wave of nefarious Israeli interference in the continent
Extinction Rebellion demonstrators end four days of action w
Features / 29 October 2024
29 October 2024
Will Labour live up to its campaign promises and support this vital Bill as it passes into the next stage of its passage through Parliament, asks TOM HARDY
clean up
Features / 10 August 2024
10 August 2024
MARTIN CAVANAGH highlights his union's work to develop unity of purpose in the face of ongoing xenophobic and racist attacks by the far-right