Renter’s rights bill: Before the no-fault ban takes effect, over 15,000 renters may lose their houses. A campaign group has warned that thousands of renters may be evicted from their homes before laws prohibiting no-fault evictions take effect.
Following the long-delayed abandonment of comparable ideas by the Tories prior to the general election, the present Labour government was among the first to launch the Renters’ Rights Bill.
While Awaab’s Law, which targets landlords who fail to restore mouldy dwellings, would be expanded to the private sector, the current form of the law promises tenants broader rights to contest unjust rent hikes.
Additionally, Section 21 orders—also referred to as no-fault evictions—would be prohibited, giving tenants a sense of security in their residences.
While waiting for the bill to become law, however, such orders could be utilised thousands of times, according to the Renters Reform Coalition (RRC), which is made up of 21 groups that assist private renters.
According to them, if present patterns continue, bailiffs would evict almost 15,600 rental households in the first half of 2025, a 12.2% rise over the first half of the previous year.
Today, the House of Commons passed the bill by a majority of 329 votes (440 to 111) on third reading, bringing it one step closer to becoming law.
It now moves on to the House of Lords for additional examination.
However, Conservative MPs cautioned that any legal changes would cause landlords to leave, which would reduce the number of rental properties available and raise rents even more.
According to Lucy Tiller, the RRC’s policy manager, the legislation’s measures are expected to take effect this summer, and assent may be granted in the spring.
The number of no-fault evictions is currently at an eight-year high, she noted.
A Section 21 notice: what is it?
A landlord can request that a tenant vacate their home without providing a cause by serving them with a Section 21 notice, also referred to as a no-fault eviction.
Before being forced to vacate or risk legal action, renters are given a minimum of two months to locate other housing arrangements.
There are worries that the circumstance may allow landlords to expel tenants who voice grievances about their living conditions, a practice known as retaliatory evictions.
She stated: “It is undeniably true that there are a significant number of Section 21 evictions occurring at the moment, but part of the increase is due to the significant downturn that occurred during the pandemic and we are simply on the rise from that.”
“These are enormous numbers, as we believe that since the last government promised in 2019 to outlaw Section 21s, over 100,000 households have faced homelessness threats and 1,000,000 have been evicted under Section 21.”
Based on the increases observed between 2023 and 2024, the coalition estimated that 15,637 “landlord repossession actions” would occur in the first half of this year using data from the Ministry of Justice. Private, council, and housing association rental households are included in the figure.
Citizens Advice stated in September of last year that they were receiving 100 requests for assistance with no-fault evictions on average each day.
According to the group, more than 70% of the individuals they assisted in 2024 were homeless as a result of receiving the notification.
Additionally, RRC director Tom Darling stated at the 2024 Labour conference that prior to the Section 21 ban taking effect, he had heard landlords warn of a “wave of evictions.”
In advance of the most recent stage of the bill’s development, Housing Secretary Angela Rayner introduced two amendments that would cap the amount of rent that landlords might demand in advance at one month.
The RRC commended the action, citing “horror stories” of potential renters being required to pay a year’s rent up front in order to guarantee a place to live.
The alliance has, however, also called for an amendment that would limit the amount of rent increases that can occur during a tenancy, citing the possibility that some landlords could exploit a significant increase to effectively expel tenants.
“To genuinely make renting more secure and affordable, the bill must limit in-tenancy rent increases in line with either inflation or wage growth,” stated Polly Neate, CEO of Shelter, a coalition member.
“It must also eradicate other discriminatory practices that prevent people from renting privately, such as needless guarantor demands, which contribute to homelessness.”
“Our Renters’ Rights Bill will deliver on our promise to transform the private rented sector, so that people can put down roots and save for the future without fear of being evicted on a whim.” This includes plans to end “no fault” evictions for all new and existing tenants at the same time, according to a spokesperson for the Ministry for Housing, Communities, and Local Government.
“With our Plan for Change, we will build the homes we need and address the larger housing crisis we inherited head-on, providing the largest increase in social and affordable housing in a generation.”