Another activist group says Labour’s Renters Rights Bill does not go far enough.

Acorn, which describes itself as a tenants’ union, has outlined a string of areas where it says Labour should go further.

These include allowing tenants to engage in rent strikes in certain circumstances and limiting the powers of Housing Secretary Angela Rayner if councils want to initiate harsher forms of landlord licensing.

Acorn insists:

• Landlords should not be able to evict a tenant to sell a property or move themselves or a family member in, outside of rare circumstances. If a landlord needs to sell a property, they should have to sell it to someone who will keep the tenant in place – e.g.  the tenant themselves, a private landlord, a housing association, a housing cooperative or a local authority. 

• Tenants should have at least six months notice of their eviction instead of four months, and should be protected from eviction for at least the first two years of their tenancy instead of one year.

• Tenants should receive compensation for being evicted, in the form of non-payment of their last two months rent (with an equivalent system for those whose rent is paid via benefits). 

• Councils should have a duty to issue civil penalties against landlords who illegally evict their tenants, instead of just an ability. Landlords should never be able to get away with breaking the law to turf out their tenants. 

• Whether or not a rent increase is fair should be judged on whether it’s affordable, not whether it’s in line with “market rates”. 

• If market rates are to be used, the tribunal should look at all existing equivalent rental properties in an area – not just new properties currently on the market, which are generally more expensive than properties being rented, and may be overpriced. 

• The proposed landlord database should have maximum transparency for tenants and councils, including information regarding EPC, electrical safety, history of enforcement action against the landlord or on the home, and current and historic rent data. 

• Acorn claims this would give both the best chance of asserting tenants’ rights and enforcing landlord obligations, give councils a clear understanding of the rental market in their area, and help tenants avoid renting from rogue landlords. 

• Tenants should be able to withhold their rent if repairs aren’t made within the timescales set out by regulation.

• Landlord licensing should be made more effective: The Secretary of State veto should be removed, the maximum length of schemes should be extended from five years to 10, and councils should be allowed to revoke landlords’ licences based on poor conditions in their properties.