Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK, has pledged to abolish the long-awaited Renters’ Rights Act (RRA) if the party wins the next general election.
The act, which secured royal assent in October, is intended give more rights and powers to renters and includes the abolition of Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions, which will come into effect from 1 May.
While the act was originally introduced by former housing secretary Angela Rayner in September 2024, it follows on from the previous Renters Reform Bill originally pledged by the Conservative government in 2019.
During a speech in Birmingham today (24 February), Tice said the act was “well intentioned”, but claimed it was “already reducing the supply of properties to rent and therefore increasing the prices”.
“The issue is many landlords are now concluding that’s it’s too risky to be able to essentially remove an occupier/tenant if they want, for example, to sell the property, if [the tenant] is not paying. There’s a balance of risk and reward.
“Too many landlords have said enough is enough. Again, well intentioned in terms of the issues around the period for notice to quit, but actually it’s just gone way beyond this.”
Alongside the abolition of Section 21, the first phase of implementation of the act will make it illegal for landlords and letting agents to increase rents more than once a year, to ask for more than one month’s rent in advance or to pit tenants against each other in bidding wars.
Clara Collingwood, director at the Renters’ Reform Coalition, said that “after years of work” the act would “raise living standards for 11 million tenants, providing greater security and safety standards in our homes”.
“It’s one of the most popular policies out there, with over 70% of the public backing an end to Section 21 evictions,” she added. “Scrapping the basic protections in this act would be a huge setback for millions of renters, driving up homelessness and making life harder particularly for those on lower incomes.
“Reform should think again.”
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