Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of requiring section 13 notices to be issued for any change in rental rates and the ability of renters to challenge this on the caseload burden of the First Tier Tribunal in England and Wales.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government will introduce a Renters Reform Bill that will deliver the manifesto commitment to end Section 21 'no fault' evictions. This will support a buoyant private rented sector and continued investment, including from institutional investors. We will publish a full Impact Assessment of our proposed reforms alongside the passage of legislation.
Our proposals on rent increases will avoid rent increases being used as a backdoor method of eviction, and allow both parties to negotiate effectively. Nothing in these proposals will prevent landlords being able to increase rents to market prices.
The Government does not publish data on the average time taken for a Section 13 case to be heard. Decisions on Residential Property Tribunal cases in England, including Section 13 cases, from December 2018 onwards can be found here.
To free up court capacity, we will develop an improved dispute resolution offer for the private rented sector (PRS). This includes improving access to redress through a new PRS Ombudsman and increasing the use of mediation.
We are working with the Ministry of Justice to assess the impacts of our reforms on the justice system. We will ensure it works for landlords and tenants, including through increased use of digital and online technologies.
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the timeliness of possession cases through the county court, but this is not divided into the grounds for eviction which the landlord has used.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of giving local authorities increased powers to secure the eviction of tenants for reasons of anti-social behaviour when the landlord (a) is unwilling to evict those tenants or (b) cannot be located.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Action Plan is ensuring orderly behaviour by strengthening powers in the social and private rental sector to evict or sanction tenants who persistently commit anti-social behaviour
Both local authority and housing association landlords have legal powers to evict tenants should anti-social behaviour be identified as an issue.
Changes to the eviction process will be brought in through the Renters Reform bill which will be introduced as soon as time allows in this parliament.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to bring into force each of the measures to change the eviction process for anti-social behaviour set out in paragraph 31 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan, published on 27 March 2023.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Action Plan is ensuring orderly behaviour by strengthening powers in the social and private rental sector to evict or sanction tenants who persistently commit anti-social behaviour
Both local authority and housing association landlords have legal powers to evict tenants should anti-social behaviour be identified as an issue.
Changes to the eviction process will be brought in through the Renters Reform bill which will be introduced as soon as time allows in this parliament.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, under the proposed changes to possession in the Renters’ Reform Bill, renters can be evicted every eight months with the new grounds due to no fault of their own.
Answered by Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist
The Government is committed to delivering a fairer and more effective rental market that works for both tenants and landlords. We will deliver the manifesto commitment to end Section 21 evictions; this will mean that a landlord will only be able to evict their tenants in specific circumstances defined in law and they must be prepared to provide evidence of this in court. Under our proposals, landlords will be able to get possession of their properties when they need to, these reforms will include mandatory grounds for if a landlord wishes to sell or move into the property with two months’ notice periods. To protect tenants’ security, landlords will not be able to use these grounds in the first six months of a tenancy. Our reforms strike the right balance between improving security for tenants and ensuring landlords continue to feel confident in the market.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they made (1) to inform their plans for two-month eviction periods to be set out in the upcoming Renters Reform Bill, and (2) of whether this is sufficient notice for a family with children in school to find a new home in their local area.
Answered by Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist
The Government is committed to delivering a fairer and more effective rental market that works for both tenants and landlords. As set out in our 'A Fairer Private Rented Sector' White Paper, the Government has committed to ending Section 21 no fault evictions. At the same time, we will reform the grounds for evictions to ensure that landlords are able to get possession of their properties when they need to, these reforms will include mandatory grounds for if a landlord wishes to sell or move into the property with two months’ notice periods. To protect tenants' security, landlords will not be able to use these grounds in the first six months of a tenancy and to prevent misuse they will not be able to relet the property in the 3 months following the end of the tenancy.
The notice period we are proposing balances the needs of both tenants and landlords, giving tenants and their families time to find a new home while ensuring landlords can manage their assets when they need to do so. However, we encourage landlords to work flexibly with their tenants and notify them of their intentions as far in advance as possible. We encourage tenants who receive notice to consider their options as soon as possible and to contact their local authority if they are at risk of homelessness.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what plans he has to bring forward a rental reform white paper.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government remains committed to building back fairer and delivering a better deal for renters. We will publish a White Paper this spring that will set out a package of reforms to create a fairer private rented sector.
We are undertaking robust and structured engagement with stakeholders to inform our plans, while also learning from the pandemic’s impact on the sector.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to ban Section 21 no-fault evictions.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government is committed to bringing in a Better Deal for Renters to deliver a fairer and more effective rental market that works for both tenants and landlords. The Government's consultation, 'A New Deal for Renting: Resetting the balance of rights and responsibilities between landlords and tenants' sought views on how the new system should operate. This received almost 20,000 responses, which we are carefully considering as we develop our response. We will publish a response to the consultation as well as a White Paper detailing our plans for reform of the private rented sector later this year. The White Paper will provide further detail on repealing Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when his Department plans to publish a the response to the consultation, A New Deal for Renting: Resetting the Balance of Rights and Responsibilities Between Landlords and Tenants.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government’s consultation, ‘A New Deal for Renting: Resetting the balance of rights and responsibilities between landlords and tenants’ sought views on how the new system should operate. This received almost 20,000 responses, which we are carefully considering as we develop our response.
We are committed to bringing in a Better Deal for Renters to deliver a fairer and more effective rental market that works for both tenants and landlords. We will publish a response to the consultation as well as a White Paper detailing our plans for reform of the private rented sector later this year.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the Government's timescale is for bringing forward legislative proposals to end the use of section 21 no fault evictions.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government is committed to bringing in a Better Deal for Renters, including abolishing section 21 evictions, to deliver a fairer and more effective rental market that works for both tenants and landlords. We have been working with stakeholders across the sector, including holding a series of roundtable discussions, to inform this.
We will publish a White Paper that sets out the Government's plans in 2022 to allow the requisite time to develop an ambitious and considered package of reforms. Our priority is to create a fairer private rented sector that works for both landlords and tenants. It is vital that we take the time to get this right to avoid any unintended consequences for the sector.
We remain firmly committed to the Renters Reform programme, including abolishing section 21 evictions, and we will continue to engage with the sector to inform this. We will bring forward legislation in due course and when parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what progress his Department has made on ending the use of section 21 no fault evictions.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government is committed to bringing in a Better Deal for Renters, including abolishing section 21 evictions, to deliver a fairer and more effective rental market that works for both tenants and landlords. We have been working with stakeholders across the sector, including holding a series of roundtable discussions, to inform this.
We will publish a White Paper that sets out the Government's plans in 2022 to allow the requisite time to develop an ambitious and considered package of reforms. Our priority is to create a fairer private rented sector that works for both landlords and tenants. It is vital that we take the time to get this right to avoid any unintended consequences for the sector.
We remain firmly committed to the Renters Reform programme, including abolishing section 21 evictions, and we will continue to engage with the sector to inform this. We will bring forward legislation in due course and when parliamentary time allows.