England’s 11 million renters are set to get more security as Labour introduces a new bill to ban “no-fault” evictions.
A Renters’ Rights Bill was introduced by the Conservatives but initial plans for a ban were put on indefinite hold before the whole bill was dumped because of the election being called in July.
Now, Labour has brought forward a strengthened version of the bill, including an outright ban on tenants being turfed out for no reason by landlords using a Section 21 notice.
Homelessness and renters’ rights charities welcomed the tougher plans, which will also end blanket bans for those on benefits or with children, and extend Awaab’s Law, forcing landlords to fix issues like damp and mould, into the private rented sector.
A Conservative spokesperson said any new laws must be “coherent and thought-through” to ensure “choice and freedom” in the housing market.
Generation Rent chief executive Ben Twomey said abolishing Section 21 evictions was “painfully overdue” and would give tenants “more confidence to challenge disrepair and poor treatment” by landlords and letting agents.
Mr Twomey also welcomed the planned doubling of notice periods ahead of evictions and said a proposed ban on landlords “pitting tenant against tenant in bidding wars cannot come soon enough”.
The promise of greater protections against unreasonable rent increases was welcome, he added, although tenants remained “vulnerable to backdoor rent-hike evictions”.
Shelter chief executive Polly Neate agreed the government was right to “pull the plug” on no-fault evictions, which have “haunted England’s renters for years now”.
She urged Labour to go further, highlighting how 60,000 renters had been forced out of their homes by rent hikes in the past year.
“Renters need to know they won’t be booted out of their homes by eye-watering rent hikes and the discriminatory practices that push so many into homelessness must be stamped out,” she added.
However, National Residential Landlords Association chief executive Ben Beadle sounded a note of caution, saying it was vital for the bill to be fair to both tenants and landlords who, he said, would need time to prepare for the biggest overhaul to the sector in 30 years.
The current backlog in the courts remained an issue for any evictions procedures, he added, and Westminster’s cross-party Housing Select Committee has warned that they risk becoming overwhelmed.
“This will not serve the interests of tenants or landlords seeking justice,” Mr Beadle said.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner promised “no more dither and delay” on rebalancing the rights of tenants with those of landlords.
“Renters have been let down for too long and too many are stuck in disgraceful conditions, powerless to act because of the threat of a retaliatory eviction hanging over them,” she said.
“Most landlords act in a responsible way but a small number of unscrupulous ones are tarnishing the reputation of the whole sector by making the most of the housing crisis and forcing tenants into bidding wars.”
The Conservative spokesperson added: “Badly drafted laws will cut supply, forcing up rents and reducing choice for renters.”
