Major legislation on renters’ rights due this week delayed again
A package of reforms on renters’ rights that was due to be published this week has been delayed again, according to reports.
Levelling up secretary Michael Gove previously promised that the Renters Reform Bill, which has been in the works for four years, would finally be tabled in parliament this week, but reports from both Politico and The Mirror said that it has been delayed. The reports said it could be published sometime within the next two weeks.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities was not immediately available to comment on the reports.
The draft legislation will provide more protection for tenants and is set to include ground-breaking reforms, like the end of no-fault evictions, promised by the Conservative Party in their manifesto in 2019.
No-fault evictions, also known as Section 21 evictions, are used by landlords to evict a tenant without having to establish any fault on the tenants part. They have long been condemned as unfair by housing campaigners and politicians.
The bill is also due to extend the Decent Homes Standard – which is used to ensure social housing meets minimum standards of health and safety – to privately rented properties.
But multiple delays on publishing the bill have increased uncertainty surrounding the reforms and sparked complaints from housing campaigners and industry insiders that the government was dragging its feet on crucial changes.