Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has called on the government to give him powers to freeze private rents in the capital for two years, which he says will help to save £3,000 in rent for thousands of Londoners struggling to cope with the rising cost of living.

City Hall analysis, based on forecasts by estate agent Savills, says freezing private rents for two years would save Londoners on average a total of £2,988 over the period, with £881 in the first year and £2107.60 in the second year.

Khan pointed out that the £881 rent saving in the first year alone would outweigh the average projected £693 fuel bill price hike set for April, after regulator Ofgem raised price caps it imposes on energy firms earlier in the year.

Prior research from City Hall and YouGov estimated that a quarter of London’s 2.4 million privately renting adults had fallen behind on their rent, or said they were likely to do so, as a direct result of the pandemic.

More than a third of private renters polled said they thought the pandemic was having a “large impact” on their personal finances, with half a million Londoners now potentially facing eviction.

The mayor has called for controls on some rents in the capital many times since 2019, but does not have the power to impose them, unlike other cities around the world, such as New York or Berlin.

Khan says: “Private renters make up nearly a third of everyone living in the capital and they are set to be hit by a devastating combination of price and bill rises. Too often the needs of private renters are ignored by both landlords and the government.

“Rising fuel and energy costs – which will hit renters in energy inefficient homes the hardest – are already causing anxiety and stress, with a big rise in the energy price cap due next month.

“That’s why today I’m calling on ministers to give me the powers to stop rents rising in the capital, and help me to give people a chance to get back on their feet after the pandemic.”

Rental platform Canopy chief executive Chris Hutchinson adds: “The proposal from Sadiq Khan to freeze private rents would be a welcome boost for renters at such a testing time.

“The cost of living crisis is hitting everyone hard and those renting, in potentially energy inefficient homes, are likely to see utility prices skyrocket.

“And the continuous growth of house prices and increased cost of living makes scrapping together a deposit an increasingly difficult challenge for those looking towards homeownership, meaning they’ll be renting for longer.”

But last week, the National Residential Landlords Association renewed its opposition to rent controls in the capital, saying London needs investment to build 83,000 new private rented homes a year to meet demand.

NRLA chief executive Ben Beadle has labelled Khan’s petitons for rent control “folly” and called on the Treasury to encourage investment in the sector to support new housing in several ways.

He said these should include boosting the rate of new builds, switching commercial property to residential use, moving stock from short-term to long-term lets and bringing empty homes back into use.