#044 Private Renting Revisited
Return of the Renters Reform Bill
The new Labour government intends to bring back, modify and even rename a piece of legislation previosuly known as the Renters’ Reform Bill, a bill that made it through the House of Commons under the previous conservative government but stopped short of becoming law when Rishi Sunak called the July 2024 election. Sunak went on to lose the general election spectacularly, taking the conservatives to their lowest ever vote share and number of seats in their history.
It was the conservative government who pledged to reform the private rental sector as far back as April 2019 (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-announces-end-to-unfair-evictions) and later, in their December 2019 manifesto under Boris Johnson’s leadership, they pledged to actually implement the bill in parliament. In the end they completely failed to do so and many renters have suffered as a result.
The Labour Party’s most recent manifesto also promised to overhaul the regulation of the private rented sector, this time specifically promising to abolish the section 21 ‘no fault’ eviction clause, empowering tenants who wish to challenge unreasonable rent increases and to help raise housing standards in private rentals. The Labour government also intends to rename the bill the Renters’ Rights Bill.
This means private renters have a second chance of securing vital changes that could help transform private sector renting forever. The question has now become, what will be changed and how will it affect both private renters and private landlords.
Twenty organisations supporting and representing private renters, including national housing charities, renter unions, advice centres and think tanks, all campaigning for private renting reform, have over recent years come together and formed a “renters reform coalition” dedicated to pressuring the government of the day to bring forward the bill and help sculpt it in ways they argue would be best for renters up and down England & Wales.
This coaltion went as far as to make a blueprint guide containing information about all of the changes they would like to see in the bill and will once again scrutinise the bill a it passes through parliament.
https://rentersreformcoalition.co.uk/sites/default/files/RRC%20Blueprint%20for%20Reform.pdf
UPDATE 1 (May 2025):
