No-fault Evictions

Earl of Leicester Excerpts

Thursday 26th October 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Swinburne (Con)]

I do not have a specific answer for the noble Lord. I can tell him that there will be a new private rental property portal, which will help landlords to understand their legal obligations and will help their agents understand that too, but I will ask the department to revert to him in writing.

[The Earl of Leicester (Con)]

I declare my interest as set out in the register. Does my noble friend the Minister agree that this postponement of the legislation is actually a welcome idea? Owning residential property is becoming increasingly difficult and unattractive. The Estate Business Group, which is perhaps a group you could argue has long owned property and much rural property, has been recently surveyed: 41% of them are now considering selling those properties. Many of these properties are in attractive rural areas. The unintended consequence of Section 21 is that these houses will be bought by second-home owners and therefore no longer be available for the affordable rental sector.

[Baroness Swinburne (Con)]

It is that measure of losing private rental properties that has caused the Government to take a little more caution over the way in which this is being introduced. In particular, we listened to the Housing and Communities Select Committee in its recent report on PRS, which asked for this delay for Section 21 to be abolished only when there was sufficient progress made on that court’s process. We are aware of the balance and are working very carefully with both the rental sector and the private landlords.