The Labour government’s Renters’ Rights Bill has cleared its final Commons stage with Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook (main picture) confirming that virtually all Amendments from the House of Lords have been rejected.
The legislation is now poised to enter the final “ping-pong” phase between the two Houses before receiving Royal Assent.
Its core reforms remain intact: the abolition of Section 21 no-fault evictions, the introduction of a Decent Homes Standard for the private rented sector, and the replacement of assured shorthold tenancies with indefinite rolling contracts.
If enacted, the Bill will mark the most significant overhaul in England’s private rental sector since the 1988 Housing Act, fundamentally reshaping tenant and landlord rights
NEW REGULATIONS
It will abolish fixed-term tenancies, replacing them with periodic assured tenancies and require landlords to provide legally specified grounds, such as rent arrears, property sale, or anti-social behaviour, for seeking possession.
In turn, tenants will gain the right to exit tenancies with two months’ notice, while landlords will be limited to one annual rent increase, aligned with local market rates
Other notable features include caps on advance rental payments, bans on bidding wars and discriminatory refusals against tenants with children or on benefits, the creation of a private rented sector ombudsman and a digital portal for landlords
UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES
Nevertheless, key industry figures warn of unintended consequences.
Nathan Emerson, Chief Executive at Propertymark, says: “The Renters’ Rights Bill represents one of the biggest evolutions of housing legislation across England in over thirty years.
“Implementing such a wide-ranging overhaul of law must prove dynamic by design to help deliver a fair and workable balance between tenants and landlords.
“Housing fundamentally affects everyone, and there is an immense pressure on this new legislation to deliver tangible results.
“There is an essential ongoing need for new sustainable housing stock across all regions, and for this to efficiently happen, there must be long term investment within the private rented sector, especially as population growth continues to move at pace.”
COURT STRAIN
Sam Humphries, Founder of tenant-focused start-up Dwelly, says: “Even before this Bill has been implemented we’re already seeing a rise in landlord repossessions, driven by a lack of trust in the court system and a desire to regain control of their portfolios before these changes come into effect.
“This trend is only likely to intensify, putting even greater strain on the courts and leaving many more tenants without a roof over their head.”
Meanwhile, Marc von Grundherr, director of Benham & Reeves, criticised the government’s stance: “The vast majority of landlords are honest, hard-working individuals.
“Demonising them is not only misleading, it risks further destabilising the rental market at a time when supply is already critically short.”
Sián Hemmings, Head of Partnerships at Inventory Base, warns that the protracted legislative process is fueling tenant-landlord uncertainty: “Minor amendments are no substitute for real direction… uncertainty will harden into paralysis across the rental sector.”
And Vann Vogstad, Chief Executive of Coho, adds: “HMOs will be hit first and hardest by this legislation… Any further pressure risks reducing availability in this vital part of the sector, ultimately to the detriment of the very tenants the Government claims to be protecting.”
Parliament is set to reconvene for the inevitable “ping-pong” exchanges. Although technical amendments may still be tabled, analysts expect the Bill to pass largely unchanged ahead of Royal Assent, likely by late 2025.
The reforms themselves are expected to be implemented in stages, with full commencement potentially delayed until early to mid-2026.
