Industry News


Rental Bill torpedoed by election


T


he Conservatives’ flagship bill to reform the private rented sector was one of the biggest casualties of the Prime Minister’s


decision to call a General Election in early July. Both landlords’ representatives and housing bodies are warning of huge uncertainties affecting the sector, which could badly hit the supply of rental homes. Despite it being in the 2019 election manifesto,


the Renters (Reform) Bill – which was due to ban Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions – ran out of time, with backbench MPs and peers in the House of Lords still dis-satisfied with key elements. Some wanted greater protections for landlords, while others wanted assurances on the legal processes. Ironically it was opposition from the


Government’s own side that eventually ensured it could not get through in the wash up period, as Labour said they would have allowed the bill to proceed through all its stages. It is possible that it will return in the next Government’s programme of legislation. Te need for the legislation was starkly revealed


in official figures released in mid-May which showed that no fault evictions had risen to a six year high. Some 2,682 households in England were marched out of their homes by bailiffs (using Section 21 powers) between January and March – up 19% in a year. Te Ministry of Justice figures showed a further


7,863 landlords in England started Section 21 eviction proceedings against their tenants in that time period, an increase of 15% in a year. Tis means that nearly 29,000 households have been kicked out of their home by bailiffs since the Conservatives first promised to ban Section 21 no fault evictions five years ago. Te procedure is a major contributing factor to


the rising tide of homelessness because they allow landlords to evict tenants with only two months’ notice, without having to give a reason. Recent Government data found that no fault evictions resulted in a record 25,910 households being threatened with homelessness in 2023. Anecdotal evidence suggests that landlords use


the Section 21 route to re-let properties at higher rents to new tenants. Te average UK asking rents increased 7.2% to £1,223 a month in the last year, figures from Zoopla show. Te highest average rent in the UK is £2,121, in London.


GROWING UNCERTAINTY Earlier in 2024 MPs ignored calls from organisations representing renters and voted to accept amendments to the Renters (Reform) Bill. Tese amendments could have indefinitely delayed banning Section 21s and reintroduced some fixed term tenancies, prompting the housing charity Shelter and others to say they could no longer support the Bill.


In the immediate aſtermath of the bill failing to


squeeze through, the National Residential Landlords Association warned that the private rented sector is now headed for further widespread uncertainty. Setting out the NRLA’s position, Ben Beadle,


chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, said: “It is hugely disappointing that this bill has not made it into law. Te news comes despite the fact that the bill was in a state which would work for tenants and responsible landlords.” “Tere has been too much dither and delay in


Government, and a failure to be clear about how to ensure changes would work in practice. Critically, the market now faces yet more crippling uncertainty about what the future of the private rented sector looks like.” “Reforming the sector will be an important


issue for the next government and we will work constructively with them to ensure changes are fair and workable. Tat means empowering tenants to challenge rogue and criminal landlords whilst ensuring the confidence of responsible landlords to stay in the market.” Meanwhile Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter,


said: “Evictions are rocketing to new heights while the Government put the threats of a small group of self-interested landlord backbenchers over the safety and security of 11 million private renters.” “It’s been five years since the Conservatives


pledged to rebalance the scales in private renting, and what do we have to show for it? A Renters Reform Bill, leſt in tatters, which will keep renters trapped in the same hellish conditions they’ve endured for decades, or abandon them to the whims of their landlords and the terrifying spectre of homelessness.”


Gove ‘regrets’ rise in number of children in temporary housing


Michael Gove has admitted to feelings of regret over increases in the number of homeless households with dependent children living in temporary accommodation. Official figures published at the end


of April showed that nearly 112,000 households were in temporary accommodation on 31 December 2023, a 12.1% increase from the previous year. Of those, 63% included dependent children, hitting record levels in 2023. Data from the Department for


Levelling up, Housing and Communities, showed 34,220 households faced the threat of homelessness, an increase of 4.8% from the same quarter the previous year. Of this figure, 5,790 households faced a section 21 notice, an increase of 10.9% from the same period the previous year. “I can’t look at those figures with anything


other than regret,” the Housing Secretary told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “Te biggest issue overall is that whether it’s in the private rental sector, the socially rented sector, or homes to buy, we still need to increase the supply of homes.” When he gave the interview Gove was


still expecting the Renters (Reform) Bill to become law, but it was dropped when the Prime Minister announced the General Election would be held in July. Te bill was meant to scrap Section 21 evictions, one of the biggest causes of homelessness in recent years. Last year, the Government added only 234,400 new homes to England’s housing stock out of a promised 300,000 additional homes. Gove said: “We’ve missed the 300,000 target but we’ve hit the 1 million over the course of Parliament target.” “Tere’s an increasing pressure on


housing supply… We have not been building enough homes, we have not been creating the new housing that matches the new formation of households.” Speaking in the House of Commons, Lord


Best, a cross-bench peer and member of the all-party parliamentary group on housing market and housing delivery, called for a statutory national housing committee to be established, “to see the job done”. Best said: “It is certainly worth trying, against the backdrop of human misery that the severe underprovision of genuinely affordable housing has created.”


www.housingmmonline.co.uk | HMMJune/July 2024 | 5


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