The Scottish Government is to introduce rent control powers to limit steep rises in the cost of housing, it has announced.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon today released the SNP’s programme for government for the party’s final year before the 2016 Scottish Parliament elections.

The programme contains a Private Tenancies Bill which includes measures to “provide more predictable rents and protection for tenants against excessive rent increases, including the ability to introduce rent controls for rent pressure areas”.

New model tenancies will also increase security of tenure for tenants and prevent landlords from asking tenants to leave simply because a fixed-term contract has ended.

Nicola Sturgeon (Getty)

The policy would apply to areas where rents are rising the fastest.

Labour pledged to introduce rent controls in its 2015 UK general election manifesto. Former leader Ed Miliband said rises should be limited to inflation over a three-year period and that the standard tenancy length should become three years.

Rent controls enjoy broad popular support, with a Survation poll conducted in January this year finding that only 6.8 per cent of the public are “somewhat” or “strongly” against the controls.

59 per cent of those polls said they somewhat or strongly supported the state being able to control what landlords take from tenants each month.

Conservative chair Grant Shapps however branded Labour’s proposals at the election “Venezuelan-style”, a reference to the left-wing governments of Hugo Chavez and Nicolás Maduro.

The most expensive and the cheapest locations to rent in the UK Show all 19 1 /19 The most expensive and the cheapest locations to rent in the UK The most expensive and the cheapest locations to rent in the UK The most expensive places to rent: Kensington and Chelsea Kensington and Chelsea - £2,970 pcm based on the average two-bedroom property The most expensive and the cheapest locations to rent in the UK City of Westminster City of Westminster - £2,708 pcm Getty The most expensive and the cheapest locations to rent in the UK Camden Camden - £2,166 pcm Reuters The most expensive and the cheapest locations to rent in the UK Hammersmith and Fulham Hammersmith and Fulham - £1,950 pcm Getty The most expensive and the cheapest locations to rent in the UK Islington Islington - £1,950 pcm Getty The most expensive and the cheapest locations to rent in the UK Tower Hamlets Tower Hamlets - £1,776 pcm Getty The most expensive and the cheapest locations to rent in the UK Hackney Hackney - £1,733 pcm Reuters The most expensive and the cheapest locations to rent in the UK Southwark Southwark - £1,668 pcm Getty The most expensive and the cheapest locations to rent in the UK Wandsworth Wandsworth - £1,603 pcm Rex The most expensive and the cheapest locations to rent in the UK Pendle And the cheapest: Pendle - £368 pcm Rex The most expensive and the cheapest locations to rent in the UK Blaenau Gwent Blaenau Gwent- £375 pcm Getty The most expensive and the cheapest locations to rent in the UK Burnley Burnley - £385 pcm Getty The most expensive and the cheapest locations to rent in the UK Hyndburn Hyndburn - £397 pcm Google Maps The most expensive and the cheapest locations to rent in the UK Barnsley Barnsley - £400 pcm Getty The most expensive and the cheapest locations to rent in the UK Durham Durham - £400 pcm Getty The most expensive and the cheapest locations to rent in the UK Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil - £400 pcm Getty The most expensive and the cheapest locations to rent in the UK Darlington Darlington - £403 pcm Reuters The most expensive and the cheapest locations to rent in the UK West Lindsey West Lindsey - £405 pcm Reuters The most expensive and the cheapest locations to rent in the UK Hartlepool Hartlepool - £412 Reuters

Controls have since been proposed by some Labour candidates for Mayor of London.

Most continental European countries have some form of regulation to control increases in rents. In the UK, however, landlords can charge whatever they want.

Before free market reforms introduced by Margaret Thatcher in the Housing Act 1988, local authority rent officers had the ability to negotiate significantly lower rents for private tenants.