LABOUR councillors have expressed support for a Green motion to call on the government to grant powers to introduce rent controls.

The motion, being brought before Brighton and Hove City Council’s housing committee later today, calls on the council to write to the secretary of state to ask that powers to implement rent controls be given to the city or to allow for a pilot of the idea to test its impact.

It also calls on the council to engage with groups and renters in the city to work on a wider campaign for rent controls, as well as calculate and publish a “living rent” for Brighton and Hove based on 30 per cent of median income.

The city’s Labour group said they will support the motion and continue to lobby the government to grant local authorities the powers to put in place and enforce rent controls to tackle the housing crisis, as well as secure safe accommodation for all.

Labour’s housing spokeswoman Councillor Gill Williams said: “Rent controls and other measures are desperately needed so people can afford to live and work, to raise their families, and to retire, all without a fear of losing their homes.

“Britain has the sixth-largest economy in the world; advanced economies have the necessary resources to ensure an adequate standard of living for everyone, including decent housing, and we should not tolerate anything less than that.

“I doubt the present government will heed these calls, but Labour will. It’s time for a radical change not just of policy but a change of heart.

“Housing is and should be a human right.”

The motion comes after the council committed to investing £200,000 into recruiting more people to their housing enforcement team and continuing work on a local landlord licensing scheme, with plans to develop a council-run not-for-profit lettings agency.

A recent study found that Brighton and Hove has one of the highest rent costs as a proportion of income of anywhere in the UK, with rent for a two-bedroom property costing an average of 37.6 per cent of monthly income.