Ban on ‘No Fault’ evictions due to come in to force by Summer 2025

The new Labour Government as part of their mission for ‘reform’ has introduced a new ‘renters rights bill’ which aims to redress the balance of power between landlords and tenants within the private rental sector. One of the fundamental missions behind the new bill will to be to stop landlords from evicting tenants under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988. This Act currently permits landlords to give tenants two months’ notice to leave the property, with no requirement needed to provide a reason for the eviction. The ban on ‘no fault’ evictions will extend to both and new existing tenancies thereby maximising its scope and ensuring that all tenants are protected under the bill as soon as it comes into force.

The Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner said:

“Renters have been let down for too long and too many are stuck in disgraceful conditions, powerless to act because of the threat of a retaliatory eviction hanging over them.

Most landlords act in a responsible way but a small number of unscrupulous ones are tarnishing the reputation of the whole sector by making the most of the housing crisis and forcing tenants into bidding wars.

There can be no more dither and delay. We must overhaul renting and rebalance the relationship between tenant and landlord. This Bill will do just that and tenants can be reassured this Government will protect them.”

There is the possibility however that the bill may struggle to strike the correct balance and may in fact negatively impact this sector. For example, there are fears that the new bill could cause a rush in landlords selling up and getting rid of their rental properties which would lead to a shortage of rental properties resulting in high demand and consequently higher rents.

There is also concerns that attempts by landlords to obtain possession orders may put pressure on the court system and add to the already existing backlog. Therefore the new bill needs to ensure the courts have enough capacity to deal with any potential influx of these sorts of matters.

The previous Conservative government did attempt to introduce a similar sort of bill, however this was subject to numerous delays and as a result was not able to be put in place before the general election that saw them removed from power. Nevertheless, the Conservatives have expressed their concerns that the provisions in Labour’s new bill could have the end result of reducing the amount of choice available to renters.

It is important however to consider the upsides of this new bill. The ban on no fault evictions is expected to help drive up standards within the rental property market which is arguably very much needed. This is because 21% of privately rented homes are classed as ‘non decent’ and more than 500,000 are said to be suffer from serious hazards. This long awaited bill expects to help achieve this aim by putting in place a raft of additional new measures including but not limited to the extension of Awaab’s law. This means that landlords will have to investigate any reported hazards within 14 days, fix any such hazards within a further 7 days and conduct any emergency repairs within 24 hours. The bill also proposes to put in place a new Ombudsman which will help to mediate disputes between landlord and tenants in this sector.

Nonetheless, this bill has yet to come in force and any positive or negative impact that it may have remains to be seen. The Labour Government’s Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook has said that the ban on no fault evictions will likely be put in place in the first half of 2025 or the summer of 2025. So watch this space as the shake up of the private renters market appears to be due any day now!