A pressure group claims the threat of being evicted makes tenants age more quickly. 

Generation Rent claims there is a study by the University of Essex, published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, suggesting that being a private renter is linked to faster “biological ageing”.

Dan Wilson Craw, the deputy chief executive of the activist group – which recently backed a so-called manifesto demanding taking some private homes into public ownership – says: “Our home is so important to our health. Uncertainty about how long we can live somewhere is stressful, while disrepair and damp conditions make us physically ill. 

“Private renters, who face the threat of arbitrary eviction and live in the worst quality housing, are particularly vulnerable to poor health as a result. As more older people have no option but to rent, policymakers need to act urgently.

“The government has a huge opportunity to improve renters’ health by passing the Renters Reform Bill, which will stop landlords evicting tenants without providing a reason, and make it easier to hold landlords accountable for the quality of their homes.”

When MPs return to work after the party conference season there is only a brief period when the Commons sits before the King’s Speech, outlining future business, on November 7. 

It is thought that if the Rental Reform Bill doesn’t get its Second Reading by the King’s Speech, its process through the Commons goes back to square one – meaning it needs another First Reading, as the Bill originally received back in May.

Speaking at a Tory conference fringe meeting last week Housing Secretary Michael Gove said speculation that some Tory backbenchers opposed the Bill did not reflect the government’s thinking.

The Bill will go ahead, he said.

The government first committed to abolishing Section 21 in April 2019.