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Government promises to prioritise scrapping no-fault evictions after pandemic
The government has promised to prioritise a new Renters’ Reform Bill, which will scrap no-fault evictions, once the coronavirus situation has improved.
Answering a written question, housing minister Chris Pincher said the government remained committed to abolishing Section 21 – aka ‘no fault’ – evictions through the Renters’ Reform Bill, but said this would only be brought forward “once the urgencies of responding to the pandemic have passed”.
In April 2019, then prime minister Theresa May promised to abolish Section 21. Section 21 gives landlords the right to evict tenants with as little as eight weeks’ notice, after a fixed-term contract has come to an end.
Prime minister Boris Johnson’s government decided after the general election to continue with the plan and the Renters’ Reform Bill was announced in the Queen’s Speech in December. This promised “revolutionary changes” for renters to restore fairness to the private rental market, and included proposals to abolish no-fault evictions and introduce a new lifetime deposit scheme, which would see tenants’ deposits move from property to property.
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The HCLG report was a big moment for social housing – but don’t expect the cash to start flowing yetIn his response to a question from Ruth Cadbury, the Labour MP for Brentford and Isleworth, about whether the government would introduce longer minimum rental contracts for renters, Mr Pincher said: “The government is committed to bringing forward legislation to abolish Section 21 but such legislation must be balanced and considered to achieve the right outcomes for the sector.
“It is only right that providing tenants with greater security of tenure is balanced with an assurance that landlords are able to recover their properties where they have valid reasons to do so. This is vital to ensuring the future supply of good quality housing in the rented sector.
“We will bring forward the Renters’ Reform Bill as a priority once the urgencies of responding to the pandemic have passed.”
His answer comes as calls for the government to scrap Section 21 during the pandemic have intensified ahead of the lifting of the government’s evictions ban on 23 August.
Generation Rent and the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, have called on the government to scrap Section 21 to protect tenants at threat of losing their homes when the ban is lifted.
Last week, shadow housing secretary Thangam Debbonnaire pushed Mr Pincher in parliament over why the government has failed to take steps, such as scrapping Section 21 no-fault evictions or giving courts discretion in arrears cases, ahead of the eviction ban being lifted.
Mr Pincher accused Ms Debbonnaire of being under pressure from the left wing of the Labour Party to write off all rents and said that Labour’s plan for renters was “pie in the sky”.
