January 14th 2025.
In 2019, the government led by Theresa May made a promise to ban Section 21 evictions. It has been a long wait, but today a revised version of the legislation will finally be presented to parliament. The new Renters' Rights Bill took another step towards becoming law on Tuesday evening when it passed its third reading in the House of Commons with a majority of 329 votes.
The bill, which was initially introduced by the Tories before the General Election, includes many of the same ideas as the original proposal. This includes the elimination of Section 21 notices, which allow landlords to evict tenants without giving a specific reason. However, Labour has also added some new elements to the bill. Tenants will now have the right to request to have a pet in their rental home, and they will also be able to challenge landlords who raise their rent to unreasonable levels.
Housing and planning minister Matthew Pennycook and Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner are both in support of the new legislation. Rayner stated, "There can be no more dither and delay. We must overhaul renting and rebalance the relationship between tenant and landlord." The bill is based on similar laws that have been in place in Scotland for over five years and aims to create a more equitable playing field between landlords and tenants.
The Renters' Reform Coalition, which is made up of 20 organizations advocating for private renters, has welcomed the new bill. Tom Darling, the director of the coalition, said, "We, as renter groups, have consistently called for these changes, and though there is still room for improvement, the fact that the government has listened means that many renters will now have increased security of tenure." However, he also emphasized the need for safeguards to prevent landlords from unfairly evicting tenants under the new system.
In a recent rally in London, supporters of the London Renters Union demanded rent controls. This brings up the question: what exactly is a Section 21 notice? Also known as a no-fault eviction, a Section 21 notice allows landlords to ask their tenants to leave without giving a specific reason. Renters are typically given two months to find alternative housing before facing legal action. However, there are concerns that this gives landlords the opportunity to evict tenants who complain about living conditions, also known as retaliatory evictions.
According to housing charity Shelter, around 500 private renters are served with a Section 21 notice every day, and over 26,000 households have faced homelessness in the past five years due to no-fault evictions. In response to these concerns, the Labour Party plans to immediately ban Section 21 evictions once the bill becomes law. This is in contrast to the Conservative approach, which would have taken a pause to determine if the courts were prepared for the expected influx of cases as landlords were forced to rely on the justice system for evictions.
Aside from the elimination of Section 21 notices, the Renters' Rights Bill includes several other proposals. These include the right to request a pet, laws to end rental bidding wars, more rights to challenge unfair rent increases, and making it illegal to discriminate against tenants who receive benefits or have children. The bill will also expand Awaab's Law, which cracks down on landlords who do not address mold issues, to cover the private sector.
While the Renters' Rights Bill is one of the first pieces of legislation to be introduced in this parliament, it may take some time to become law. As with all bills presented at Westminster, the timeline is unpredictable, and it is difficult to say how long it will take to pass through the various reading and committee stages in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. However, it is expected to be debated by MPs later this autumn. A spokesperson for the Conservative Party stated, "We look forward to seeing the details of Labour's proposals and hope they are more coherent and well thought-out than their interventions in other policy areas thus far."
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