The Renters (Reform) Bill has completed its passage through the House of Commons and will now be debated by the House of Lords, although no date has yet been confirmed for its Second Reading (First Reading refers to the presentation of the Bill to the House when it is not debated;  2nd reading is the first time the Bill is debated).  The Bill completed its Committee stage in November 2023, and, during the long delay before it was brought back for the final stages of its consideration by the House of Commons, there was speculation that it would be dropped because of opposition by Conservative backbenchers.  In the event, the Bill was brought back for Report and Third Reading on 24 April with a large number of new amendments which critics argued would water down the Bill to placate landlord interests, and further delay the abolition of no-fault evictions, which was a Conservative 2019 manifesto commitment.

The amended Bill now contains three main provisions to which critics, including the Renters Reform Coalition, are opposed:

• Tenants will not be able to give notice that they wish to end a tenancy for at least 6 months after taking it on, rather than after two months as previously proposed.

• The Government will review arrangements for landlord licensing schemes operated by local authorities to ensure they are in line with Bill provisions, with a view to reduce the burden on landlords.

• Abolition of section 21 “no fault” evictions will not take place until court reforms have been implemented.

Labour has complained that the Government so far failed to give any clear criteria for deciding when the courts will be ready to handle the new arrangements, leaving the date of implementation a matter for the subjective judgement of Ministers.