Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the timescale is for the introduction of the Renters Reform Bill; what the Government's plans are for section 21 notices; and what plans he has to increase security for older private renters in that upcoming bill.

As announced in the Queen’s Speech, the Government plans to introduce a package of reforms to deliver a better deal for renters and a fairer and more effective rental market. The Renters’ Reform Bill will enhance renters’ security and improve protections for short-term tenants by abolishing ‘no-fault’ evictions. This will include repealing Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 and represents a generational change in the law that governs private renting.

However, at the current time, our collective efforts are focused on protecting people during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. That means supporting our communities as well as making sure measures to help renters and landlords over the next few months are effective.

Our recent consultation ‘ A New Deal for Renting: Resetting the balance of rights and responsibilities between landlords and tenants’ sought views from across the private and social rented sectors on how a new system should operate, in order to ensure that we get the details right?and?create?a new framework which works for everyone. We received responses to our consultation which highlighted the experience of a range of people who rent their homes in the private rented sector, including older people. In total, almost 20,000 responses to the consultation were received and these are being carefully considered to help inform the Renters’ Reform Bill. We will respond fully to the consultation in due course.