Renters Rights Bill returns to parliament  

The government’s Renters Rights Bill is set to return to the House of Commons, to enter the report stage. The bill is due before Parliament on 14 January 2025, when MPs will have the chance to debate it on the floor of the house and make amendments. 

The speed at which the bill has moved through the Commons so far is thought to signal the government’s urgency to see changes to the tenancy system come into force early this year. 

After the report stage, the bill will receive its third reading, usually a chance for discussion without amendments. It will then enter the various stages of passage through the House of Lords before being granted Royal Assent. 

Last year, housing minister Matthew Pennycock, told the BBC: “We hope [the bill] will make very quick progress through the House of Commons and that we have that new tenancy system in place within the first half or around summer next year.” 

A major part of the bill involves the abolition of Section 21, so-called ‘no fault’ evictions, replaced by new grounds for possession by landlords. 

There has been general agreement on most elements of the bill among both Labour and Conservative MPs. However, critics of the bill have warned that the UK court system is already struggling to cope with the demand from Section 8 evictions – those carried out as a result of arrears or other breaches of the tenancy agreement. 

The bill also proposes capping in-tenancy rent increases to once a year and giving tenants the right to challenge unjust increases via a tribunal. Fixed term tenancies are also set to be abolished, replaced by periodic tenancies that continue indefinitely. 

Read more about this story on the Property Wire website.