A letter to Conservative MPs from communities minister, Jacob Young, was leaked last Wednesday and led to accusations over the Easter weekend that the government is significantly watering down some of the main provisions of its proposed Renters’ Reform Bill.
One national newspaper described the possible changes as a ‘disgraceful betrayal’.
Having already undergone a protracted gestation the bill now looks like it might not immediately end Section 21 ‘no-fault evictions’, but it will now prevent tenants ending a rental contract within its first six-month period, allow landlords to evict students to ensure tenants move out at the end of the academic year, and give tenants who are evicted under new possession grounds a right to homelessness support from their local council.
The reason for the doubt about the ban on Section 21 notices (that can lead to a no-fault eviction) is that there is recognition that the courts are unlikely to be able to cope with the volume of alternative eviction procedures that may follow such a ban. A proposed amendment, noted in the Young letter, is that the Lord Chancellor will need to publish an asessment on the ‘readiness’ of the Courts before such a ban was enacted. Campaigners are likely to see such a provision as effectively kicking a Section 21 ban into the long grass.
Earlier last month Jacob Young told parliament, “We are absolutely committed to the abolition of section 21. I am personally committed to that and we will bring back the bill as soon as we’re able to.”
A group of around 50 Conservative MPs (many of whom are also private landlords) have said that planned protections for tenants will be too hard on landlords and has been campaigning to delay and amend the Renters’ Reform Bill. They have said that the changes will lead to landlords selling up and a reduced supply of rental properties. Jacob Young said in the letter that he had listended to their concerns and would bring forward changes to the proposals.
The Renters’ Reform Coalition, representing tenant groups, accused the government of ‘selling renters down the river’. Shelter was reported as saying that the ‘lock-in’ for the first six months of a new tenancy could, “trap renters in hellish conditions”.
Tom Darling, the campaign manager at the coalition, was reported as saying: “Renters will be hoping to see significant changes to the bill in the House of Lords. Otherwise, this legislation will hardly be an improvement on the status quo, and in some case it will make things worse.”
Ben Beadle, the chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, said, “The government has a mandate to end section 21 repossessions. Our focus has been on ensuring that the replacement system works, and is fair, to both tenants and responsible landlords. The changes being proposed would achieve this balance.”
The Guardian pulled no punches in its condemnation of the possible amendments to the Bill. “Rishi Sunak’s government had the chance to claim renters’ rights as a legacy. Instead, it has chosen cowardly deferral.” The opinion piece also said:
“This capitulation to landlords, dressed up as a reasonable compromise, is in reality a disgraceful betrayal. The renters reform bill has cross-party support. Ministers would have had no difficulty getting it through the House of Commons with the evictions ban intact – even if some of their own MPs, including a group involved in lobbying to water down the bill who are themselves landlords, had rebelled. Polling shows that the public recognises the severity of Britain’s housing affordability crisis, and particularly its impact on younger people’s lives. Putting the interests of landlords before those of renters is a political choice.”
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities maintains that the Bill will deliver a fairer private rented sector for tenants and landlords and by abolishing Section 21 will give people more security of tenure. The trailed amendments to the bill are likely to be brought forward at the Report stage of the parliamentary process in the coming weeks.
