The Renters’ Reform Bill is finally due to be published and introduced into Parliament next week.
Housing Secretary Michael Gove has told Sky News: “We’re introducing new legislation, it will be out next week and it will change the way in which the relationship between landlords and tenants work, providing tenants with new protection which should ensure that they’re better protected from arbitrary rent increases.”
The Bill is expected to include a wide range of reforms including the much-publicised abolition of Section 21 eviction powers for landlords, an apparent strengthening of Section 8 eviction powers, probably a mandatory landlord register and the introduction of a Decent Homes Standard for the private sector akin to that operating for social housing providers now.
The Bill was first mooted in 2019 and the government has had substantial criticism from activist groups for its slowness at introducing it into Parliament.
The details of the Bill will reveal which measures, if any, can be introduced into law at short notice and which may require primary legislation, which takes up to a year to get through Parliament.
Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, has tweeted in response to the news: “Secretary of State Michael Gove confirms that we will see the long-awaited Renters Reform Bill next week. A fun week ahead beckons!”
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Will they get it on the statute books before the next election?
If they don’t…. Labour will be licking their lips at the thought of bringing this in…. It’s like fishing 🎣 in a barrel, an easy win within months of them taking over.
If they were smart they would have it making its journey and then pull it after the GE before its gets enacted. The only reason to do it is to undermine the Labour/LD vote base, it's a very unconservative policy.
This government has been very ' UnConservative ' morphing into quasi-socialist.
Many have commented on this, and its one of the ways that in the Tories move towards the left, - they've been able to ' steal ' labour voters. ( often at the expense of Landlords )
Been said before, - how any Landlord could vote Conservative is an absolute mystery.
I agree PossessionFriend. I want to vote for anyone else but the Tories or Labour. But I fear voting for someone else is a wasted vote and will hand Labour victory. There non-landlord related policies will also be a lot worse too. Sadly I think it's time to just get out of PRS altogether. They sold of all of their own properties and now they want to control between them and the tenants private property. Time to get out of Dodge...
I will be voting Reform UK at the next election. You can call it a wasted vote, but if we keep voting for tories as they move ever further to the left simply because they not quite as bad as Labour, then nothing gets better.
I suspect Reform UK will out perform a lot of expectations at the next election. Even if all they achieve is to be taken seriously, then they may have a fighting chance in 5 years time.
I also share you view Steve. I have been very annoyed with the Tories and another way forward is to just bite the bullet, let someone else take over -it can't be much worse? Let the Tories purge their infection / cancer of all of these levelling up / lefty dummies and let them get back to being Tories.
It's all dreadful unconservative policy!
In a recent interview with Gove he did make sort of an admission that it has gone too far with landlords and that needs to be addressed. Probably if he comes down on the side of landlords then he will get slammed by the press and if he goes down on the side of tenants then it will increase the problems with housing availability as people will speed up their decision to exit.
He may play politics and make it awkward for the next labour government and do the latter, that is my worry.
It will be the latter. The government has committed to doing it. I don't think they can turn back. Rumours in the press were Truss had the sense to backtrack but had no support so had to commit to ending S21 at PMQs in Oct. Gove etc can make a big mess now. Labour, the activists and all of the luvvies want reform. So he/the Tories want to give it to them. It will be a big mess for Labour when they get in. They should be careful what they wish for. But they are too stupid.
Give has got a communist background, and essentially goes to work for Murdoch (his former employer) when he isn't a minister.
This is coming in one way or the other, there is too much momentum behind it. They are so stupid 🙄
It will be like a clip from Back To The Future after Section 21 is outlawed as properties to rent become all but non existent as it was pre section 21 in the 1970/80s.
Yep Labour will be kicking their lips. BUT also go further on top of what’s proposed. No f politician seems to listen to us L lords. Just bl oo ry interferes and makes things worse.
Yes - I think the Tories are being pushed along to do it all. If they don't Labour will do it so they want the credit now to try and buy votes to stay in. No one cares about landlords but landlords themselves. It's about time tenants stood up and defended their landlords so they can keep their homes.
NRLA has caved in on this one. Agreed mediation as a sop to removing S21. But mediation just adds time and lost rent.
Now watch them adopt Labour’s landlord registration without any quid pro quo like allowing self regulation instead of licensing for registered landlords
So will the government be able to abolish s21 overnight? Just wondering if there’s a need to serve one quickly before it’s too late.
We are asking a below inflation increase (won’t even cover rise in mortgage interest) but if s21 is gone, I reckon the tenants won’t play ball.
No. It would not be in the public interest as I understand. It's a major change and pulling the rug from peoples feet would damage confidence in the legal system. Although note Scotland and Ireland with their current eviction bans due to the COL 'crisis'. It's only temporary but this is how precarious things are for UK landlords.....
I did my S21 after Gove's 'Brown Paper' from June last year. Get the house back at the end of the month. Best you take out any trash whilst you still can.
Just going to put this out there for a thought, I think think we (LL) missed what this abolition of S21 might actually all be about.
Clever politics. Win/win for politicians with voter friendly soundbytes but more cleverly closing a local authority loophole for housing, reducing numbers.
If you are intentionally homeless the LA is not under obligation to house/help you so no pressure on their numbers, that's been in place for years. BUT... if you're homeless through no fault of your own they must house you.
Straight to #1 on the waiting list. !
Tenants want to be evicted by a no fault S21.
There was a BBC article recently .. this one was using the angle rents rising etc but the basic of the story is the same and its been a tactic used for years (I have first hand experience of tenants telling me the same, want cheaper new build nearer friends etc), just dressed up different ways.
bbc news uk-wales-61392420
And your LA is obliged to jump/help.
So cheaper, possibly benefit rent paid housing, is only achievable via no fault evictions which puts pressure on LA (local authority) and has led to unacceptably high figures/lack of housing headlines.
So .....remove no fault evictions and boom, homeless (need to house) numbers drop because they are no longer responsibility of the LA.
Solved the problem.
Something similar with NHS waiting lists and employment numbers.
This is a theory people have put forward. Probably a big factor.
PossessionFriend -this government is not unconservative to themselves. They are avoiding looking after homeless tenants. They want the PRS to allow the homeless tenants, UC, or unpaying tenants to stay in PRS properties without any complaint or rights. They as government ministers want to enjoy their life, creating further problems for the Landlords and move away from their responsibilities to house the unwanted tenants by PRS. The Tory is conserving their own selves and not helping the country or anyone, not landlords or the tenants in the long run. It is their own shortcomings that they are not building social housing nor buying them from the landlords to rent to social tenants to live there and their officials to maintain and admin the whole renting process. They have no clue what the landlords have to go through with the so called social tenants, especially the ones who have plenty of time to make a lot of noises about their so-called rights.
Very true. None of them have to put up with benefit tenants who want to claim XYZ off of their landlord and be a general PITA!
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