The Renters (Reform) Bill, which now includes an indefinite delay to the long-awaited ban on ‘no-fault’ evictions, passed its third reading in the Commons yesterday.
It has been five years since the Government pledged to ban section 21 notices – so-called ‘no-fault’ evictions – which allow landlords to evict tenants without providing a reason.
After Tory backbenchers threatened to rebel over the issue and argued that outlawing the practice would overwhelm the courts, ministers tabled an amendment to hold off the ban until a review of the courts system had taken place.
Yesterday also saw housing secretary Michael Gove row back on his pledge, made in February, that section 21 notices would be outlawed by the next General Election.
He said: ‘My determination is to ensure that we get this Bill on the statute book. But it’s up to the Lords to decide the rate of progress that we can make.’
Campaigners said the Bill in its current form would ‘fail renters’.
Campaign manager of the Renters Reform Coalition, Tom Darling, said: ‘In writing an indefinite delay to the end of no-fault evictions into the Bill, the Government are prioritising the interests of landlord organisations and Conservative party unity over the interests of renters, who have already waited five years for meaningful change, during which time nearly a million of them have suffered damaging no-fault evictions.’
