The long-awaited legislation to improve renters’ rights, due to be published this week has been delayed – again.
It is now more than four years since the government pledged to abolish Section 21 evictions – known commonly as ‘no fault’ evictions.
The minister for levelling up, housing and communities, Michael Gove, went on record (last week) insisting the draft bill would be published this week – however this no longer appears to be the case.
According to reports in the Daily Mirror this morning, “procedural issues” have been cited as the reason for the further delay in introducing the bill to Parliament.
However media reports have suggested pressure from backbench Conservative MPs concerned at what they see as the anti-landlord nature of the bill, is another explanation.
The proposed abolition of Section 21 goes back to 2019 when the prime minister at that time Theresa May, promised to scrap it. Her successor Boris Johnson then pledged in his party’s general election manifesto “a better deal for renters”, and this included the ‘no fault’ eviction ban.
Fast forward to the summer of 2022 and a rental reform white paper was produced but with such a rapid turnover of housing ministers (six since 2021), draft legislation has still to go before parliament for debate.
Goodlord director of insurance Oli Sherlock comments on the latest hold up: “It’s really disappointing that the Renters’ Reform Bill has been delayed yet again, especially after the commitment from Michael Gove in recent weeks.
“This bill has been kicked along the road too many times to count and further delays are feeding uncertainty in a private rented sector that desperately needs stability and a long-term vision. With a commitment to deliver the bill “shortly” we hope this delay in publishing means within the next week – rather than months.”
