What is the Renter’s Reform Bill? Everything you need to know as campaigners slam Tory ‘failure’
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe long-awaited Renters Reform Bill returns to Commons on Wednesday as MPs consider new amendments to the housing legislation ahead of a crucial final vote.First introduced in 2023, the bill aims to bring in measures that protect renters’ rights in the housing market. Since its inception, the scrapping of Section 21 ‘no fault’ eviction notices has been central to the legislation.This is the controversial power that allows landlords to evict tenants from their properties at two months’ notice without needing to give any reason. Former prime minister Theresa May first announced the Conservatives’ intention to abolish Section 21 notices in April 2019.Recent research by YouGov commissioned by homelessness charity Shelter showed 943,000 tenants had been served Section 21 notices in this time, equivalent to more than 500 renters per day.Half-a-decade later and the bill is ready for MPs – but not without a few changes along the way. Ahead of a final vote, MPs are given the opportunity to make amendments to a bill which will now be considered in the report stage. Several of the amendments that are likely to pass were recently leaked in a letter to from housing minister Jacob Young. The MP writes that the changes are designed to ‘bolster landlord protections’.Reports show that, of the 48 backbench MPs backing several controversial amendments, 36 are either landlords or have received funding linked to landlords. The government has been accused of conceding to much to these “pro-landlord Conservative MPs”.Responding to the amendments, Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the National Residential Landlords Association has called for “swift passage” of the bill.He said: “Tenants should rightly be empowered to hold rogue and criminal landlords to account to root out the minority who bring the sector into disrepute. However, it is vital that the majority of responsible landlords have confidence in the Bill to provide the homes for rent the country needs.“The amendments proposed by the Government strike that balance.”Ahead of the amendment debate, the Renters’ Reform Coalition (RRC) have said the changes will render the bill a ‘failure’. Co-signed by 20 leading housing charities and campaign groups, the letter criticises ministers for meeting with landlords twice as often as their own groups.Housing secretary Michael Gove has insisted Section 21 notices will be ‘outlawed’ before the next general election More