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The government’s flagship bill to shake up the housing rental market came under fire on Monday from the opposition, who said plans to end “no-fault” evictions in England were likely to be delayed for years pending glacial reforms to the courts.
Ministers confirmed last week that part of the law to prevent landlords from throwing out tenants without giving a reason would not be enforced until there had been adequate changes to the court system.
Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, said the government had “betrayed renters” by striking a “grubby deal with Tory backbenchers”, adding that the decision to await court reforms kicked the removal of no-fault evictions “into the long grass”.
“Having broken the justice system, they are now using their own failure to indefinitely delay keeping their promises to renters in the most underhand way,” said Rayner.
A further 30,840 households face potential homelessness through eviction before the next election, she added.
Landlords are currently able to evict tenants who do not have fixed-term contracts even if they have not committed any fault under Section 21 of the 1988 Housing Act.
After receiving such a notice, tenants have to vacate the property within two months, or landlords can apply for swift court orders to remove them.
The government’s bill, which had its long-awaited second reading in the House of Commons on Monday, would abolish short-hold tenancies and, with them, “no-fault” evictions.
Michael Gove, levelling-up secretary, believes the legislation will help show the Conservatives have policies that benefit younger voters.
The government said in a report on Friday that the removal of Section 21 would “not take place until we judge sufficient progress has been made to improve the courts”, including digitising more of the judicial process to make it easier for landlords to use, improving bailiff recruitment and retention, and strengthening mediation procedures.
The announcement was made in response to a report from the Commons housing committee in February, which recommended the government produce clear targets on how fast repossession claims should be dealt with before abolishing Section 21.
“I am absolutely committed . . . to get rid of Section 21, but it is also important to recognise that in so doing we must strengthen the provisions that landlords have,” Gove told MPs on Monday.
“We need to ensure the justice system . . . is in a position to effectively implement [the bill].”
The Conservatives first announced plans to reform the rental market, including giving greater protection to tenants, in their 2019 election manifesto.
Until last week, there had been growing concerns among campaigners that the legislation could be thwarted by hostile Tory MPs, with time running out for the bill to proceed through parliament before the King’s Speech, due on November 7.
But after a letter was sent to several hostile backbench MPs to assuage some of their concerns, the bill was given its second reading in the Commons.
There is due to be a “carry-over motion” that will allow the bill to make it through into the next parliamentary session that begins with the King’s Speech.
One in five Conservative MPs are landlords, according to research conducted by campaign group 38 Degrees this year.
A total of 87 MPs of all parties declared income from 167 homes providing more than £10,000 in rental earnings in the last year, it found.
