Charities Warn Bill to Ban No-Fault Evictions ‘Will Fail’ if Amendments Backed!
Labor and campaigners have warned that reforms aimed at ending “faultless” evictions will fail as the government bowed to pressure from Tory backbenchers to delay implementation.
The Tenants (Reform) Bill, which is set for the final stage in the House of Commons on Wednesday, contains a long-promised plan to end forcing tenants out of their homes under Section 21 notices.
But the government has indicated it will delay implementing the ban until the courts are deemed fit to deal with new cases, leading to accusations that ministers have abandoned tenants and admitted “conservative MPs for landlords”.
The 20 charities and campaign groups that make up the Renters Reform Coalition (RRC) said several rounds of “damaging concessions” had “fundamentally weakened” the bill, which would maintain a “central power imbalance” in favor of landlords.
Labor said the ban on no-fault evictions promised in the Conservative manifesto was “collapsing under the weight of self-interest” and called for the plan to be implemented immediately.
But the body representing landlords said the bill brought “fair dealing for tenants and responsible landlords” and called for the bill to be passed through parliament “in the interests of certainty for the industry”.
Recent YouGov research commissioned by homelessness charity Shelter showed that since April 2019, 943,000 tenants have received Section 21 notices, which equates to more than 500 tenants a day.
Almost 85,000 of those households were at risk of homelessness as a result, the research found.
However, the government said it could not commit to a time frame for when the ban would be implemented.
According to the Housing Secretary, Michael Gove said he was “hopeful” the bill would become law before the general election, but it was up to the House of Lords “to decide the level of progress we can make”.
He told the broadcaster: “My determination is to ensure that we get this bill on the statute book. But it is for the Lords to decide the level of progress we can make.
“If the opposition parties support – and I believe, even if they have some quibbles, they support the basic principle that we are putting forward – then we can have section 21 ended before the general election. That’s the goal.”
Shadow Housing Secretary Matthew Pennycook accused ministers of not having the “guts” to protect tenants’ rights as they promised.
He said: “Instead of ministers having the courage to stand up to their unruly backbenchers, this weak and divided Tory government is appeasing them at the expense of private tenants who will see the rights and protections they were promised eroded.
Instead of ministers having the courage to stand up to their unruly backbenchers, this weak, divided Tory government is appeasing them at the expense of private tenants who will see their promised rights and protections eroded.
Shadow Minister for Housing Matthew Pennycock
“The long-delayed end to unjust evictions cannot be dependent on unspecified future judicial improvements subjectively determined by ministers.
“The Government must abolish Section 21 evictions once and for all when the Rent Reform Act becomes law or the Labor Government will finish the job.”
The RRC advocated changes to the legislation which it said would strengthen tenant protections, but insisted that groups representing private tenants were “not taken seriously” and claimed ministers met with lobbyists for landlords and estate agents “twice as often”.
It added: “The result of all the government concession is that we now have a bill which repeals section 21 in name only. “There is no guarantee that it will ever completely repeal Section 21, and even then the new tenancy system to replace it will be little better.
“This legislation is designed to give the impression of improving conditions for tenants, but in reality, it perpetuates the central power imbalance which is the reason why renting in England is in crisis.” Polly Neate, chief executive of homelessness charity Shelter, said the bill would be a “colossal failure” without “serious changes”.
She added: “Disgraceful attempts to delay the no-hassle eviction ban and sneak back fixed-term tenancies must be resisted, or the sound of broken promises will ring all too loudly in the ears of tenants when they finally head to the polls. box.”
Darren Baxter, the senior policy adviser at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said the bill had been watered down repeatedly and was now “severely inadequate”.
He urged ministers to reverse the planned delay to the Section 21 ban and ensure a cap on rent increases is introduced.
Siobhan Donnachie, head of campaigning at the London Renters Union, said the proposed changes to the law would provide no certainty to tenants. “After five long years, there is still no end in sight to the mass evictions that are forcing tens of thousands of us into homelessness,” she added.
As well as abolishing Section 21 repossessions, the provisions in the bill, as originally drafted, would end fixed-term tenancies, introduce a decent housing standard, establish a new ombudsman, and aim to protect families receiving benefits from discrimination.
Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, supported the bill as it stands, saying it would provide stability for both tenants and landlords. He added: “Going forward it will always be up to the courts to decide whether landlords have met the threshold for repossession on a range of legitimate grounds.
“This includes anti-social behavior by tenants, serious rent arrears, or when the landlord plans to sell the property.Greater security for tenants will mean nothing if there are no rental houses Ben Beadle, National Residential Landlords Association
“However, tenants’ group Generation Rent has rightly warned that landlords selling properties are a ‘leading cause of homelessness’.
“The only answer to this is to ensure that responsible landlords feel confident enough to stay in the market. “More security for renters will mean nothing if there are no rental houses.” Mr. Beadle also highlighted that a number of amendments to the Bill followed recommendations from the cross-party equalization, housing, and communities committee.
Responding to the criticism, Senior Minister Jacob Young said: “The Tenant Reform Act will deliver on our manifesto commitment to abolish no-fault Section 21 evictions and deliver a fairer private rented sector for both tenants and landlords. “These are the biggest changes to the sector for 30 years – and we will continue to work across the sector to ensure that the bill becomes law as soon as possible.”
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