London landlords could be hit with a £15,000 cocktail of bills over the next two years after mayor Sadiq Khan doubled down on calls for rent controls in the capital.

Buy-to-let investors would lose thousands of pounds in rental income as the mayor demanded rents be frozen for two years to help tenants manage the cost of living crisis. Mr Khan called on the Government to give him the power to halt London rents at March 2022 prices. 

City Hall estimated this would save tenants £2,988 over the 24-month period from April 2022 to March 2024.

However, landlords warned the plan left them unprotected from the same crisis and would force many to sell up. This would further shrink the supply of homes to rent and bring significantly higher rent increases down the line.

Ben Beadle, of the National Residential Landlords Association, a trade body, said: “A rent freeze would be disastrous for the private rented sector. At a time when costs are rising sharply, and will continue to do so with extra spending needed for energy efficiency upgrades and higher mortgage rates, all it would do is drive more landlords out of the market.”

He added: “This would make the situation worse for tenants at a time when there is already a chronic shortage of homes.”