Sadiq Khan has promised he will be on the side of renters rather than “dodgy landlords” and has repeated his desire to introduce rent controls in the capital if he wins a record third term.

The London mayor said more homes and more protection for renters was needed, during a live debate for ITV News London with his three main rivals: Susan Hall for the Conservatives, Rob Blackie for the Lib Dems and Zoë Garbett for the Green Party.

“We’ve got a Conservative government where most of the MPs are landlords and they’re worried about renters having more rights,” said Khan, when challenged as to why he hadn’t already introduced controls after making the promise at the last election, while the Labour party didn’t plan to introduce rent controls.

Evictions ban

“Angela Rayner has promised that if we get a Labour government, no-fault evictions will go,” Khan added. “I can promise Londoners 6,000 rent control homes and 40,000 new council homes - we have the money for that. We will be on the side of renters, not dodgy landlords.”

Khan said he had smashed every government housebuilding target set since 2016 and was building double the number of council homes compared to the rest of the country but added there was a need for more investment in genuinely affordable homes and a way to control rents.

The Green’s Garbett said a new rent commission would help renters decide what the model looked like and to get a better deal. “Right now, it’s really not working for the millions of Londoners when you’ve got renters not willing to complain to their landlord when a lightbulb needs to be fixed because they’re worried about rents going up or being evicted,” she added.

The mayoral election is on Thursday 2nd May.