A secret letter to Conservative MPs from reveals a long-promised
government proposal to ban no fault evictions is now set to be
delayed indefinitely.
The move comes as the Renters (Reform) Bill is set to receive its
Second Reading in the House of Commons today amid reports of a
Tory backbench rebellion.
In the letter to Conservative backbenchers, the Levelling Up,
Housing and Communities Secretary declares the government will
“reform the courts before we abolish section 21”.
A government’s response to the Levelling Up, Housing and
Communities Select Committee’s report on Reforming the Private
Rented Sector, published on Friday, reveals ministers are
plotting a delay in the ban until “we judge sufficient progress
has been made to improve the courts”, specifically end-to-end
digitisation of the process.
Labour has warned such a delay means between today and the last
possible date for a General Election (28 January 2025), another
30,840 households face potential homelessness thanks to eviction
while 10,416 households are expected to be kicked out by
bailiffs.
The end to no fault evictions was first announced by then Prime
Minister in April 2019, appeared in the
Conservatives’ 2019 manifesto and was backed by both and .
Since the ending of no-fault evictions was first announced in
April 2019, a total of 71,310 households have been kicked out of
their homes due to a no fault eviction using a section 21 notice.
21,332 households have had bailiffs kick them out their houses as
a result of no-fault evictions over the same period.
, Labour’s Deputy Leader
and Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and
Communities, said:
“The government has betrayed renters with this grubby deal with
the Tory backbenches. The Conservatives’ long-promised ban on no
fault evictions has majority and cross-party support across the
House, but this flip-flop kicks it 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.
“The government plans to act as judge and jury in deciding when
the courts have been sufficiently improved, meaning their
manifesto pledge will likely not be met before the next election.
“This comes at a heavy price for renters who have been let down
for too long already. Tens of thousands more families who the
government promised to protect, now face the prospect of being
threatened with homelessness or kicked out of their homes by
bailiffs."
Ends
Notes:
- Projections of households put at risk of homelessness use the
average number of households per day over the last year (66.47),
multiplied by the number of days until the King’s Speech, on 7
November 2023 (16), and the last day possible for a general
election on 28 January 2025 (464), as determined by the Institute
for Government: https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/next-general-election
