The Renters Reform Coalition – a group of organisations including Shelter and Generation Rent – has again written to Housing Secretary Michael Gove urging him to strengthen the Renters Reform Bill.
The coalition tells Gove he is “set to miss the opportunity to fix the crisis in private renting” and urged him “to face down vested interests”.
The coalition wants tenants to be given four-month notice periods when being evicted, not the current plan of two months; tenants to be protected from eviction for two years at the start of a tenancy, rather than six months at present; and the threshold for landlords when they are trying to evict tenants to be raised.
“Without these changes, the tenant’s experience post-reform will too often resemble the current situation: renters will continue to be subject to the threat of unfair evictions; they will continue to be subject to frequent, expensive moves; and they will continue to feel unable to challenge their landlords to demand that basic standards be met” the letter says.
Polly Neate, the chief executive of Shelter, told the BBC over the weekend that the government was “being far too weak” in the face of opposition from its own MPs.
“I definitely think the delay [in implementing the legislation] is down to a group of backbenchers on the Tory benches who are landlords who don’t want to see this Bill go through.”
The National Residential Landlords Association is calling for improvements to the court system to enable landlords to regain possession of their properties more quickly when they have legitimate grounds to do so.
Ben Beadle, the organisation’s chief executive, told the BBC: “Tenants across the country are facing a rental housing supply crisis. It is vital therefore that plans to reform the rental market secure the confidence of responsible landlords as well as renters.”
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities says: “Our landmark Renters Reform Bill will deliver a fairer private rented sector for both tenants and landlords.
‘It will abolish section 21 evictions – giving people more security in their homes and empowering them to challenge poor practices.”