The chair of the levelling up, housing and communities (LUHC) committee has urged the Government to commit to a timetable for abolishing section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions.
In the King’s Speech this week, the Government committed to re-introducing the Renters (Reform) Bill in the new parliamentary session, but it has said the Bill’s long-anticipated ban on ‘no-fault’ evictions will be delayed ‘until stronger possession grounds and a new court process is in place’.
Yesterday, LUHC committee chair Clive Betts wrote to the secretary of state for the LUHC department, Michael Gove, raising concerns about the indefinite delay to the ban.
Mr Betts also criticised the Government for ministerial comments made at the second reading of the Bill, which he said ‘mischaracterised’ a committee report recommendation and ‘attempted to deflect the blame’ towards the LUHC committee for the delays.
He told Mr Gove that while the LUHC committee report did say the Government needed to ‘significantly increase’ the courts’ ability to process possession claims quickly, at ‘no point did we recommend an indefinite delay to the abolition of section 21 as the way to solve this challenge’.
Mr Betts said: ‘Rather than seeking to cast the blame elsewhere for delaying reform, including in the direction of our committee, the Government should be setting out a clear timetable for when it will implement the provisions of the Renters (Reform) Bill and ensure the legal system is fit to handle the consequences of the abolition of section 21.’
A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesperson said: 'Our landmark Renters (Reform) Bill offers better protections for tenants and gives them greater security to challenge poor conditions in their homes.
'We are abolishing section 21 "no fault" evictions and the Bill passing through Parliament will see this happen.'
