The Labour government’s new Renters’ Rights Bill, which had its first reading in September, will abolish section 21, which currently allows landlords to evict a tenant without providing a reason. They are required to give two months’ notice.
The new legislation also introduces more detailed grounds for possession to allow landlords to recover their properties, which includes things like selling the property or moving in themselves. Tenants will have a 12-month protected period at the beginning of the tenancy, and the notice period for eviction will increase from two to four months.
These protections are widely backed by renters’ groups, who have long called for section 21 to be scrapped. Yet a new report published today by the Renters’ Reform Coalition, a group of 21 campaigning organisations, argues that the legislation must go further to protect tenants, including compensating those faced with no-fault evictions under the new grounds.
Tom Darling, director of the Renters’ Reform Coalition, said:
“We as renting campaigners have welcomed the government’s Renters’ Rights Bill. This legislation is a significant improvement on the last government’s effort: as drafted it will already make a difference for a lot of people. The government should hold their nerve in the face of threats from landlords of a wave of evictions before the reforms come in. This threat in itself shows why change is so desperately needed."
