The Renters’ Rights Bill will move to its report stage in the middle of this month, as the wide-ranging legislation takes a significant step towards becoming law.
The Bill will be looked at line-by-line by MPs from 14 January, which includes measures to ban Section 21 no-fault evictions, limit rent increases to once a year and apply the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector for the first time.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner is taking the legislation, introduced in September, through Parliament.
The Labour Party election manifesto last summer pledged to end no-fault evictions “immediately” if it formed the government.
“Given Labour’s prioritisation of this legislation, the report stage is expected to be expedited, potentially concluding within a single day,” says Propertymark.
The estate agency lobby group adds: “Overall, there has generally been an agreement between all party MPs on most elements of the Bill.”
During the Bill’s second reading in October Rayner said: “I am determined to get this Bill into law as soon as possible.”
Key elements of the Bill include:
- Tenants will be in a stronger position to challenge unreasonable rent increases supported by a Tribunal and landlords will only be allowed to raise the rent once a year and only to the market rate
- Renters will get a quicker resolution over disputes, cutting down on the need to go through the courts through a new Ombudsman service
- Local councils will be given stronger powers to crack down on unscrupulous landlords, with fines lifted to £40,000 for the worst offenders
- A new database for landlords to share important information on their property standards
- Tenants will be able to request to have a pet and landlords will not be able to unreasonably refuse
The National Residential Landlords Association has called the move “the biggest shake up of the rental market for over 30 years”, and warns the courts must be ready in time to handle more eviction cases.
The NRLA’s campaigns & policy director Chris Norris has said: “With an average of 21 tenants now competing for every available home to rent, the Bill must not worsen an already chronic shortage of homes in the sector.
“All this would do is weaken tenants’ purchasing power, making it more difficult for them to hold rogue and criminal landlords to account as a result.”
After the Bill’s report stage, the legislation will move to its third reading in the House of Commons before moving to the House of Lords.
