Top Tories are in private talks with big landlords in a bid to thwart Labour’s Renters’ Rights Bill, it has emerged.
In a bid to scupper the legislation, which overhauls private renting laws to give more protection to renters, senior Conservatives have met landlords to consider options, including a legal challenge under human rights law.
In a meeting between some of the UK’s biggest landlords and shadow housing minister Jane Scott, the group discussed ideas including challenges in the courts and delaying the legislation with repeated amendments in the Lords, it was reported.
Three people in attendance told The Guardian that Baroness Scott also vowed to do everything she could to force debates on multiple amendments to the bill, promising she could delay it until the autumn at least.
Campaign group Acorn said there is a “coordinated attempt by landlords and their supporters within the Lords to frustrate the progress of the Renters’ Rights Bill”.
Policy officer Anny Cullum said: “Unelected and unaccountable Tory peers are using underhand tactics to deliberately delay this vital legislation even more – legislation that many of them supported in its previous guise under the last government.”
And charity Shelter said it is “utterly disgraceful that a handful of self-interested peers are resorting to cynical delay tactics designed to slow the progress of the Renters’ Rights Bill to a crawl”.
The Conservatives did not deny the meeting took place, with a party spokesperson adding: “The Conservatives have been warning that this bill is deeply flawed, as it will lead to a reduced supply of rental homes … As is standard practice with all legislation, the official opposition engages privately with a range of stakeholders to hear their views.”
Labour’s Renters’ Rights Bill sets out a raft of new legislation designed to give greater rights and protections to private renters in the UK.
The key measure in the bill is the abolition of Section 21’s so-called no-fault evictions, under which tenants can be removed from rented housing when a fixed-term tenancy ends or during a rolling tenancy.
Other measures include giving tenants the right to request a pet, with landlords unable to “unreasonably refuse” and able to request insurance to cover potential damage from pets if needed.
It will also strengthen tenants’ rights, with renters empowered to challenge unfair rent increases and plans to outlaw rental bidding wars by landlords and letting agents.
Under the bill, Labour will also make it illegal for landlords to discriminate against tenants in receipt of benefits or with children when choosing to rent out their property.
The party has accused the Tories of having “repeatedly refused to stand up for private renters” with a ban on no-fault evictions first announced by Theresa May in 2019.
Baroness Scott’s meeting included representatives from the property group Get Living, Dexters estate agents and the National Residential Landlord Association, among others, according to The Guardian.
A spokesperson for Get Living said: “We have always been clear that we want to see the Renters’ Rights Bill succeed. Renters deserve a better rental experience, but this needs to be balanced with maintaining an appealing and sustainable rental market for investors and landlords.
“Throughout the passage of the bill, we have raised our concerns with all major parties and want to work constructively with government to make the bill a success for renters and operators alike.”
