LABOUR Together hardman Steve Reed crushed renters’ hopes today by ruling out any plans for a rent freeze.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves had appeared open to the idea of a one-year freeze on private-sector rents as part of a package to tackle the cost-of-living crisis.

But the Housing Secretary immediately squashed the speculation, saying: “No. I think I’ve just been crystal clear, we’re not doing it.”

Mr Reed’s rejection of the idea, apparently on instructions from No 10, will be of no assistance to Labour candidates standing in local, Scottish and Welsh elections next week.

The Greens have backed rent controls, but the move is opposed by Labour’s right as interfering in the role of the market. They purportedly champion more housebuilding, but Labour’s record there has been abysmal.

The London Renters Union pledged to keep on campaigning, saying: “A rent freeze would be a big win for private renters. Our collective power has put this on the table.

“But it has to work between tenancies and we need long-term rent controls to ensure landlords don’t hike rents sharply for new tenants or after a freeze ends – like in Scotland.”

Generation Rent said: “The rental market is like the Wild West. 

“Landlords are a law unto themselves, rigging the system to line their own pockets. Renters can challenge unfair rent hikes, but we know the vast majority don’t. 

“A limit on how much landlords can raise the rent, linked to the Consumer Price Inflation level or local wage growth, whatever is lower, will stop landlords from pricing renters out of our homes.”