The Renters Reform Coalition is urging supporters to bombard housing minister Matthew Pennycook with demands to set early implementation dates for parts of the Renters Rights Bill.
The Bill returns to the Commons tomorrow in what is widely expected to be a brief session rubber-stamping government measures ahead of it securing Royal Assent and passing into law.
What remains unclear, however, are the implementation dates for measures contained in the Bill.
Trade bodies and other professionals have called for six months or more to ensure a smooth transition, while some specific measures are expected to require secondary legislation anyway, which could take some months. But activists in the Renters Reform Coalition – funded by the Lloyds Bank Foundation and the Nationwide Foundation, and closely allied to the Generation Rent group – want a much faster timeline.
Now the coalition is using its website to say: “Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook must announce a commencement date without delay. The day when landlords can no longer evict people for no reason can’t come soon enough.”
It is giving a model text to supporters, urging them to email Pennycook and “personalise the text below to talk about your own experience of renting. Personal stories really do make a difference when writing to an MP. The draft email has been written from the perspective of a renter – but you can still email if you don’t rent your home. Just edit the below text to fit your situation.”
Here is the text which the Coalition says can be used by renters or non-renters:
Dear Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook MP,
I am one of England’s 12 million private renters. As you know, our housing is often insecure, expensive, and low quality – and represents the worst value for money of any advanced economy.
This is why I’m really glad that the Renters’ Rights Bill is nearing its last stages. The end of no-fault evictions and the creation of a landlord database will make a real difference to renters like me. I’d like to thank you for all you have done to get the Renters’ Rights Bill to this point. But now, we desperately need to know when we will have more security in our homes.
As such, I am asking you to set a commencement date for the end of Section 21 evictions.
The Government promised to ban Section 21 evictions ‘immediately’ over a year ago – and we’re still waiting. That’s why I’m writing to you – to ask you to publish a commencement date for the Bill as soon as possible. Next April will be 7 years to the day since a Prime Minister first promised an end to Section 21 – it would be a great shame if these evictions were still happening then.
Renters are currently in limbo, knowing that these rights are coming but not knowing when. Now that the Bill has passed the latest stage in the House of Commons, we need to know when it will actually come into force.
I would greatly appreciate it if you would consider my request as soon as possible. I look forward to hearing back from you.
Thank you in advance for your consideration.
This article is taken from Landlord Today