Asked by
To ask His Majesty’s Government when they intend to introduce
legislation to ban no-fault evictions.
(Con)
The Renters (Reform) Bill had its Second Reading in the House of
Commons on Monday 23 October 2023. The Bill will deliver the
Government’s commitment to a fairer private rental sector. It
will remove Section 21 no-fault evictions to provide tenants with
greater security and will empower them to challenge poor
conditions. Alongside this, we will introduce periodic tenancies
allowing either party to end the tenancy when they need to.
(Lab)
My Lords, the banning of Section 21 evictions has been pushed
into the long grass, and the insecurity caused by no-fault
evictions is having a devastating impact on over 24,000 families
a year in this country—a 50% increase on the previous year. The
financial burden of £1.6 billion a year on local authorities is
overwhelming their ability to deliver other services. Five years
have gone by since the Government’s manifesto pledge to ban
no-fault evictions, and it now appears that the Prime Minister is
too weak among his Back-Benchers to deliver that promise. Why has
no work happened to ensure that the courts were fit for purpose
to deliver no-fault evictions in those five years? What are the
Government going to do to stop those being made homeless by
Section 21 from rising to over 30,000 families a year before this
gets fixed?
(Con)
I respectfully disagree with the noble Baroness: we are not
kicking this into the long grass. However, this will be the
biggest challenge to the private rental sector for over 30 years,
and it is vital that we deliver reform in a way that both
protects the security of private tenants and retains the
confidence of landlords in that new system. This is why Section
21 will be abolished only once we judge sufficient progress has
been made to improve the court’s possessions. It is our
commitment, in line with recommendations made in the Levelling-up
and Regeneration Bill and in recent reports, that we will do this
as a matter of priority. I will also draw attention to the new
Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service, introduced on 1 August
2023, which will help with those evictions as of now.
(Con)
My Lords, is it not the problem that the private rented sector in
this country is overreliant on the small private landlord,
whereas in most other countries it is the financial institutions
and the pension funds that invest in private rented property and
provide professional management? They do not need Section 21, so
what steps are the Government taking to encourage financial
institutions in this country to invest in the private rented
sector and replace the small private landlord who, in many cases,
is anxious to sell up?
(Con)
We know that the profile of landlords providing homes in the
private rental sector has changed over the past 20 years. A wide
range of landlords operate in the sector, owning different
numbers of properties and focusing on different markets, and they
all have a role to play providing secure and decent homes.
However, the Government also welcome new institutional investment
in the private rental sector and have made a number of
interventions to support the Build to Rent sector. Build to Rent
boosts housing supply, diversifies the private rental sector and
increases the quality and choice for renters in cities and towns
across England.
(Lab)
My Lords, does the Minister really understand the effect this is
having on individuals? I was a bit late in today because on the
way in I met someone in Greenwich—as I was going to get public
transport here—who was soaking wet and clearly distressed. He was
evicted; he claimed no fault but now cannot afford accommodation.
Last night he could not afford the £12 to get into a hostel, so
was soaking wet because he had to sleep in the park all night.
These are real people who are being damaged, and we now know
there are more children who are homeless through this than we
have ever known before. The Government need to understand, show
the compassion, get on and stop these no-fault evictions.
(Con)
I totally agree with the noble Baroness, and that is why the
current Bill going through the other place is in motion and will
stop those no-fault evictions.
(CB)
To assist and relieve the courts, what steps are the Government
taking to look at other measures to resolve disputes, such as
mediation?
(Con)
As the House can imagine, this is a complex area; court reform is
really important, but it is also important to understand that the
statistics are actually relatively good for the judiciary at this
time. We are hearing that, of those that actually have a target
here, the Ministry of Justice and His Majesty’s Courts &
Tribunals Service already meet the requirement for hearings to be
within four to eight weeks of receipt in over 95% of courts. The
time it now takes has gone down to seven weeks rather than 25
weeks a year earlier, so things are happening but a lot more can
be done.
(LD)
For those families dependent on housing benefit to pay their
rent, the local housing allowance has been frozen since 2020, and
that frozen figure is based on 2018 private rental figures. This
forces many families into poverty and food banks so they can
manage to pay their way. Can the Minister assure the House that
the Government will unfreeze the local housing allowance and
bring it up to the local housing allowance rate that it should
be?
(Con)
I am afraid I cannot give the noble Baroness that specific
assurance. The Government recognise the cost of living pressures
that tenants face, and that paying rent is likely to be a
tenant’s biggest monthly expense. Some 8 million of the most
vulnerable households across the UK will continue to be supported
through the next winter by additional cost of living payments.
(Con)
Does my noble friend agree that there is a possibility of the law
of unintended consequences in this context, for instance when a
landlord requires to occupy the let premises themselves for
medical reasons?
(Con)
It is clear to me when I read the Renters (Reform) Bill that it
strikes a balance between providing renters the increased
security and quality of housing, and ensuring that landlords have
the tools to charge a fair rent and reclaim their properties when
they need to. It is right that we reform the sector so that it
works for both tenants and landlords, but there are definite
levels, barriers and bars put in place that mean you must have a
genuine reason for reclaiming your property if you are a landlord
in the future.
(Lab Co-op)
Does the noble Baroness not understand the absolute
disappointment and frustration among private tenants? This was
promised in the 2019 manifesto that her party won the election
on. Here we are now, over four years later, and now she says that
the courts must be reformed. It is unacceptable. I know some
discussions have gone on, but I do not recall the courts being
mentioned until a few weeks ago. It is out of order. Take it back
to the department and the Secretary of State. It is totally
unacceptable for the Government to oppose this at present.
(Con)
I understand the noble Lord’s frustration, but we are improving
the court system to give landlords confidence that they can
regain possession in the minority of cases where the court action
is needed. This remains a top priority for both the Department
for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Ministry of
Justice. Improved access will redress through a new PRS ombudsman
that will encourage early dispute resolution so that only cases
which need a judgment come to court. This will free up time for
the courts to process the most serious cases.
(CB)
Some of the bad behaviour of the private rental sector comes from
the letting agents who look after the properties on behalf of the
landlords or investors. These letting agents have no need to have
any qualifications, there are no requirements in law, and no
regulation. Is the Renters (Reform) Bill going to bring in at
long last regulation of property agents so that we get proper
qualified people looking after properties and lose some of those
bad agents out there, where unnecessary and very often illegal
evictions are taking place in their hands?
(Con)
I do not have a specific answer for the noble Lord. I can tell
him that there will be a new private rental property portal,
which will help landlords to understand their legal obligations
and will help their agents understand that too, but I will ask
the department to revert to him in writing.
The (Con)
I declare my interest as set out in the register. Does my noble
friend the Minister agree that this postponement of the
legislation is actually a welcome idea? Owning residential
property is becoming increasingly difficult and unattractive. The
Estate Business Group, which is perhaps a group you could argue
has long owned property and much rural property, has been
recently surveyed: 41% of them are now considering selling those
properties. Many of these properties are in attractive rural
areas. The unintended consequence of Section 21 is that these
houses will be bought by second-home owners and therefore no
longer be available for the affordable rental sector.
(Con)
It is that measure of losing private rental properties that has
caused the Government to take a little more caution over the way
in which this is being introduced. In particular, we listened to
the Housing and Communities Select Committee in its recent report
on PRS, which asked for this delay for Section 21 to be abolished
only when there was sufficient progress made on that court’s
process. We are aware of the balance and are working very
carefully with both the rental sector and the private landlords.
