I believe that landlord should control rent. The role government must play is to come up with regulations and laws to prevent market confusion. This is because it is the right of landlord to make profit and increase the rent. In capitalistic society, most of the issues are solved naturally by balancing supply and demand. When there is an excessive number of flats on the market the price will go down and vice versa. However, there needs to be government intervention to regulate toxic market behavior. In UK, for instance, there is no legal limit on how much rent a landlord can ask for up front. Therefore, it is market practice to ask for at least 6 months’ rent in advance and sometimes landlord ask 12 months upfront. To regulate this action, it is prohibited for landlord to charge more than 6 months in Wales and Scotland. Accordingly it is landlord’s right to increase rent yearly but government has to set regulation to eliminate unreasonable market behavior.

Thank you for this as well Aciel!