Can Rental Legislation Be Effective? | Marginal Babble Ep.42 with Professor Nikhil Datta

The Tenant Fees Act 2019 did something rare in housing policy, it actually worked…   Tenants saved hundreds of pounds, letting agents absorbed the shock and the market did not collapse. If you care about renting, regulation, or why some policies deliver exactly what they promise, this conversation is for you.   Max and Nikhil break down the economics behind tenant fees, why the old system was a textbook case of opaque pricing, and how banning those charges changed behaviour across the rental market. They also get into drip pricing, market power, house-building targets, NIMBY politics, the Green Belt, devolution, and the renters' rights bill.   **Professor Nikhil Datta:** https://nikhil-datta.com/   ***“Successful caps on English letting agents’ fees disprove the idea that it’s unwise to meddle with free markets”*:** https://theconversation.com/successful-caps-on-english-letting-agents-fees-disprove-the-idea-that-its-unwise-to-meddle-with-free-markets-240708   ***“The Equilibrium Effects of Regulating Junk Fees: Evidence from the Rental Brokerage Market”***: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract\_id=5200278   **Timestamps:** 00:00 Intro 01:05 Tenant Fees Act 2019 05:18 Can Regulation Make the Market More Efficient? 10:27 The Effects of the Tenant Fees Act 2019 12:16 Why Economic Theory Failed… 15:16 More Effects of the Tenant Fees Act 2019 20:43 Why Was THIS Policy Successful? (and not others…) 24:27 How to Design Better Housing Policy 33:12 Is Building New Towns the Answer? 41:04 Should New Towns Offer Financial Incentives? 45:28 The North-South Divide in Housing 48:45 Will De-centralisation Help? 54:46 Effects of the Renters Rights Bill 01:04:31 What Future Research Should be Conducted?   **Socials:** TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marginalbabble Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marginalbabble/ X: https://x.com/marginalbabble Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/marginalbabble.bsky.social/ Website: https://marginalbabble.co.uk/   #housingregulation #rentalmarkets #economics