The Government has started to “bring landlords into line”, but more needs to be done to tackle the pressures in the private rented sector, a Labour MP has suggested.

The comments have been made by Calvin Bailey, the Labour MP for Leyton and Wanstead.

He was responding to a question that was part of a debate in London’s Westminster Hall earlier this week.

He was asked whether the Government was not only committed to building new homes but how it was ensuring that people could also rent.

It follows the Government’s declaration that it intends on delivering 1.5 million new homes this Parliament.

In the debate, Calvin Bailey explained that the current housing market could not be adjusted without adding more houses, and that once this had been achieved, the Government “can start tackling the private rented sector”.

Improving the PRS

He added that the Government had already started to take measures to “bring our landlords into line” and improve “the quality of the private rented sector”.

He went on to say that some of the pressures on the rental sector can be attributed to the crisis in local authority spending.

He explained: “Many councils are now teetering on the edge of issuing section 114 notices - meaning effective bankruptcy - and those risks are increasing, because the drivers of increased costs have simply not been accounted for. Seven London boroughs require exceptional financial support.”

“By far the most acute financial pressure facing London boroughs is homelessness. The scale of the crisis is staggering: London Councils assess that one in every 50 Londoners is currently homeless and living in temporary accommodation, including nearly 90,000 children.

It follows research that revealed on one in five renters has borrowed money that needs to be paid back for their five-week cash deposit, putting them in a precarious financial position before moving in.

Deposit alternative supplier Reposit’s poll of 1,000 tenants found that of this group, 6% had secured £1,500 or more.

At the same time, 18% borrowed between £1,000 and £1,500 and 24% obtained between £500 and £1,000.

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