The Renters Reform Bill is not on the parliamentary timetable for today, which is the last day that MPs will sit in Parliament before the election, as Parliament will be dissolved next week, according to a BBC report.
The bill is currently in the House of Lords at the committee stage, and would have to progress past the report stage, third reading and consideration of amendments before being passed into law.
The bill has had several changes in the past few months, including a clause that Section 21 eviction, also known as no-fault eviction, would not be abolished until the Lord Chancellor published a report on the readiness of the court system, which delayed its passage through the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
The Conservatives had made abolishing Section 21 eviction notices a 2019 manifesto.
The BBC report continued that the Leasehold and Reform Bill could become law today, as it is due to be debated in the House of Lords today.
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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed earlier this week that a general election would take place on 4 July, which has put some legislation up in the air.
‘Government has failed in its promise’
Ben Twomey, chief executive of Generation Rent, said: “Abandoning the Renters Reform Bill as Parliament dissolves means the government has failed in its promise to renters at the last election to deliver a fairer tenancy system.
“If it had not been for delays caused by a minority of MPs opposing the bill, the government could enter the election campaign with a new law to end Section 21 evictions and bring in stronger protections for renters.
“It now falls to the next Parliament to start afresh and get it right at the second time of asking. Whoever forms the next government must make rental reform a key part of their agenda. This means proper protections from evictions when we have done nothing wrong, and limits on unaffordable rent rises so we can’t be turfed on to the streets at a landlord’s whim.”
Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA), said: “If true, it is hugely disappointing that this bill will not now make it into law. The news comes despite the fact that the bill was in a state [that] would work for tenants and responsible landlords.
“There has been too much dither[ing] and delay in government, and a failure to be clear about how to ensure changes would work in practice. Critically, the market now faces yet more crippling uncertainty about what the future of the private rented sector looks like.
“Reforming the sector will be an important issue for the next government, and we will work constructively with them to ensure changes are fair and workable. That means empowering tenants to challenge rogue and criminal landlords whilst ensuring the confidence of responsible landlords to stay in the market.”
