Stay In The Know: Renters Reform Bill Update II

The much anticipated Renter’s Reform bill had its second reading in parliament on Monday, which now allows it to enter the Committee Stage, where it is evaluated in much more depth by Members of Parliament. After passing through without a vote, in today’s blog, we’ll highlight what was discussed at this reading and the potential progression of this bill as it continues its journey towards the next stage.

Led by Michael Gove, the debate addressed the seeming bias towards landlords in housing affairs, and how this can be tackled to create a more balanced treatment of both tenants and property owners. At the reading, there seemed to be a general consensus of support in banning no fault evictions, however, it was stated that there would be an indefinite delay in the enforcement of this policy. The delay is set to be in place until after the court system is reformed, which Gove deemed as vital preparation for such a bill to be put in place, with this setback sure to cause frustration as this has been in discussion since 2019.

Landlords can currently evict tenants who are not on fixed-term contracts without giving a reason, under housing legislation known as Section 21. After receiving a notice, tenants have two months to vacate and after this period, their landlord can apply for a court order to evict them. Under the government's proposed bill, all tenancies would become periodic contracts with no fixed end date. Landlords would be able to evict tenants in certain circumstances, including when they wished to sell the property or when they or a close family member wanted to move in, after six months.

The controversial topic of abolishing Section 21’s was said to still be a commitment of the government, in a bid to reduce the fear of many tenants that speaking up about property issues will lead to eviction, and to prevent intimidation from landlords. In addition to this, the condition of regaining possession under Section 8 was reaffirmed to be a priority of this bill, to protect their properties from unruly tenant behaviour. However, the government has confirmed that without sufficient progress to the courts system, including moving the process online and an improved process of prioritising certain cases, they will halt abolishing Section 21’s. With no timescale set on how long the proposed reforms will take to achieve, its appears that everything is still up in the air.

The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) have raised their own concerns over the uncertainty over the future of the bill and how it has made it “difficult for landlords and renters to plan the future”. Junior shadow housing minister, Matthew Pennycook, said that they “will work with the government on this Bill” and would be “pushing to strengthen it to the benefit of private tenants who have been waiting too long for this piece of meaningful legislation”.

Estimated to go through the committee stage at the end of this year, where it will face line by line analysis of every detail, progress is being made towards more secure living for tenants and protection for landlords. With several more stages for the bill to pass through, there will be plenty of amendments to the terms of the bill that we will update upon as it makes its way through the commons, so make sure you check in regularly for the latest updates to stay in the know.

Maya