END HOUSING INSECURITY NOW
Could the government drop the Renters Reform Bill like its net-zero promises?
END HOUSING INSECURITY NOW
After Rishi Sunak’s screeching net-zero U-turn, campaigners fear that the government’s long-delayed Renters Reform Bill could be dropped.
The much-needed legislation will strengthen tenant rights and axe no-fault ‘section 21’ evictions – but reports suggest that Tory landlord MPs are blocking the passage of the bill.
The Conservatives first promised to axe section 21 evictions back in April 2019 but did not introduce legislation to do so until May 2023. Renters are still waiting for MPs to debate the draft law.
Vested interests could be to blame. According to research conducted by campaign group 38 Degrees this year, one in five Conservative MPs are landlords; 38 Degrees CEO Matthew McGregor described pushback on the bill as “profoundly worrying”.
“If there is a landlord lobby in parliament, it should be the loudest voice for rental reform: responsible landlords surely want to improve conditions not just for their tenants, but for tenants across the country,” he said. “But when senior ministers are raking in thousands of pounds from tenants on the one hand and refusing to bring forward legislation to protect those same tenants on the other, then something is very wrong.”
The Renters Reform Bill will rebalance the power between landlords and tenants. It will ban no-fault evictions, give renters more power to keep pets, and block landlords from excluding families with children or people receiving benefits from their
