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Labour MP Paula Barker has warned that the Renters’ Rights Bill fails to address ‘significantly high costs’ of rent and had demanded ministers tighten it up to protect tenants
The Government is under pressure to close a gap in new renters’ rights laws to stop tenants being forced out by huge rent hikes.
Labour MP Paula Barker has warned that her party’s legislation fails to address “significantly high costs” as rents rocket. She is calling on ministers to tighten up the Renters’ Rights Bill ahead of its final stages in the Commons on Tuesday.
The legislation will finally bring an end to section 21 no-fault evictions – a promise first made by the Tories in 2019 which they failed to deliver on. The notices, which are considered a major driver of homelessness, allow landlords to evict renters either after a fixed term tenancy ends or during a tenancy with no fixed end date.
Speaking to the Mirror, Ms Barker said there was lots to “celebrate” in Labour’s bill but said landlords could use rent increases to “price people out of the market” as the “new section 21”. The MP for Liverpool Wavertree has tabled an amendment to the legislation calling for in-tenancy rent increases to be capped at whichever is higher out of inflation or wage growth.
Ms Barker said: “Whilst there is definitely lots to be positive about and celebrate in the renters’ reform bill in its current form, I do think it actually fails to address one of the most significant issues that renters face currently, which obviously is the significantly high cost of renting.”
Ms Barker praised the government’s commitment to build more affordable social homes but stressed the urgency of the situation for people renting today. “Renters are struggling right now,” she said. “We’ve seen over the last 14 years that people’s wages have stagnated. In many cases within the public sector, wages have rolled back and unfortunately, rent has far outstripped people’s disposable income.”
She added that it makes “economic sense” as well as “moral sense” to limit in-tenancy rent increases as it would help cut the housing benefits bill, as well as help struggling local authorities reduce temporary accommodation costs.
Campaigners hailed Labour’s bill as “undoubtedly positive”, despite being long overdue, for renters in England. Among the changes included in the bill, landlords will be banned from requesting more than one month’s rent in advance of a tenancy. The new laws will also stop grieving families from being chased for rent due after the death of a loved one.
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Head of campaigns at Generation Rent Nye Jones told the Mirror the bill will provide “much greater security” for the millions of renters across the country. But he added that he was “fearful” of landlords using unaffordable rent hikes as almost “back-door section 21 evictions in all but name”.
Tom Darling, the director of the Renters’ Reform Coalition, said Labour’s reforms were a “big moment” and marked the “biggest changes” to private renting since 1988. But he echoed concerns that the bill fails to deliver on “affordability”. “If you’re right on the breadline and your budget has already been massively squeezed by the cost of living, a huge rent increase will act as a sort of de facto eviction notice for you,” he said.
An MHCLG spokesman said: “Our Renters’ Rights Bill will strengthen tenants’ rights by banning section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions and while we do not have plans to introduce rent controls, we are taking action to cap rent payable at the start of a tenancy to one month, end unfair bidding wars, and give tenants stronger powers to challenge excessive rent hikes. This is alongside boosting supply by building 1.5 million homes as part of our Plan for Change.”
The Government has been clear it does not support rent controls or calls for a living rent body, which would act as a rent control.