The Renters Reform Bill is set to get its second reading in parliament on Monday 23 October, which would eventually remove the right of landlords in England to evict tenants for no reason with only two months’ notice.
Housing secretary Michael Gove suggested earlier this month that the next reading of the Renters’ Reform Bill is likely to take place this Autumn.
Now the Financial Times reports that the government is stepping up its progress through Parliament, following a lengthy delay.
Gove told the Conservative Party conference this month that a “thriving private rented sector is vital to ensuring an effective housing market”.
But he has faced a lot of opposition from backbenches against the planned legislative changes.
However, the FT states that Gove “is understood to have won the internal battle over the legislation and it will now have its crucial second reading in the House of Commons on Monday”.
“There will then be a ‘carry-over motion’ which will allow the bill to make it through into the next parliamentary session that begins with the King’s Speech on November 7,” the report adds.
The Bill was first proposed more than four years ago by Theresa May’s government (April 2019), which at the time was described as a “step change” in protections for renters, ending Section 21 evictions and giving landlords and tenants more rights, the industry is still waiting for the legislation to be implemented.
The government showed it remains committed to the policy, amid industry uncertainty caused in part by the ill-fated Truss administration, when it finally introduced its long-delayed renting reforms into parliament in May of this year.
The Bill included nearly all of the measures outlined within the Fairer Renting white paper, which pleased most of those campaigning for change within the sector, with a view to giving renters greater powers.
However, progress of the Renters Reform Bill through the House of Commons has been unexpectedly slow, with no date for the ‘second’ reading – until now.
It is considered unusual for a Bill to take this long to move from a first to second reading, with the committee stage, third reading, and finally Royal Assent still needed.
The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) says it could take up to 18 months for many elements of the Renters Reform Bill to become law. That would take the timescale roughly up to the time of the next general election, which is widely expected to be late 2024.
Ben Beadle, chief Executive of the NRLA, has highlighted the importance of ensuring that future policies secure the confidence of the vast majority of landlords in order to work.
He recently said: “When section 21 repossessions end, landlords need certainty that the courts will more swiftly process possession claims where there is good cause.
“Alongside, this, we need to reform a tax system which is penalising the provision of the very homes renters are struggling to find.”
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