Found: Renters (Reform) Bill 2023-24: Progress of the Bill
Found: Summary Report stage and third reading of the Renters (Reform) Bill [15 of 2023 -24], as amended in
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether he has had discussions with the Welsh Government on the impact of increased rental costs on renters in Wales.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
Although housing is a devolved matter the UK Government is supporting renters in Wales by increasing the Local Housing Allowance (LHA). From April 2024, the UK Government will be investing £1.2 billion increasing LHA rates to cover the lowest 30% of local market rents. Around 1.6 million private renters in receipt of Housing Benefit or Universal Credit will gain nearly £800 per year on average in additional help towards their rental costs in 2024/25. In Wales, around 82,500 households are set to benefit from the boost.
This significant investment, taken together with the wider benefits uprating, will improve housing affordability for low-income households on benefits renting in the private sector, helping them afford their rent and reducing the risk of rent arrears and homelessness.
More broadly, the UK Government and Welsh Government are working closely to apply the prohibition against Blanket Ban practices in Wales. Through the Renters (Reform) Bill we will achieve our shared objective to make sure families with children and people who receive benefits can access homes in the private rented sector.
Moreover, the National Living wage will increase by 9.8% to £11.44 per hour for workers over 21 and the National Minimum wage will increase by 14.8% to £8.60 per hour for people aged 18-20. This will benefit 140,000 people in Wales and is further evidence of the support the UK Government is providing to support people with the cost of living.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether he has had discussions with the Welsh Government on the impact of increased rental costs on tenants in Wales.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
Although housing is a devolved matter the UK Government is supporting renters in Wales by increasing the Local Housing Allowance (LHA). From April 2024, the UK Government will be investing £1.2 billion increasing LHA rates to cover the lowest 30% of local market rents. Around 1.6 million private renters in receipt of Housing Benefit or Universal Credit will gain nearly £800 per year on average in additional help towards their rental costs in 2024/25. In Wales, around 82,500 households are set to benefit from the boost.
This significant investment, taken together with the wider benefits uprating, will improve housing affordability for low-income households on benefits renting in the private sector, helping them afford their rent and reducing the risk of rent arrears and homelessness.
More broadly, the UK Government and Welsh Government are working closely to apply the prohibition against Blanket Ban practices in Wales. Through the Renters (Reform) Bill we will achieve our shared objective to make sure families with children and people who receive benefits can access homes in the private rented sector.
Moreover, the National Living wage will increase by 9.8% to £11.44 per hour for workers over 21 and the National Minimum wage will increase by 14.8% to £8.60 per hour for people aged 18-20. This will benefit 140,000 people in Wales and is further evidence of the support the UK Government is providing to support people with the cost of living.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on the proportion of private rental properties that do not meet the decent homes standard; and what plans he has to help improve housing quality.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The most recent data on properties in the private rented sector (PRS) that failed to meet the Decent Homes Standard (DHS) are published at: English Housing Survey 2022 to 2023: headline report (data on dwelling condition is in Chapter 4).
Through the Renters (Reform) Bill, we are legislating to apply the Decent Homes Standard to the PRS for the first time.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of section 21 evictions in Lewisham East constituency.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN HL2677 on 6 March 2024 and the answer to Question UIN 22233 on 22 April 2024. We are abolishing Section 21 evictions as part of the Renters (Reform) Bill.
No information is held centrally on the average rental costs of houses in multiple occupation in Lewisham East.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when reforms to tenancy lengths under the provisions of the Renters (Reform) Bill will come into force for (a) existing tenancies and (b) new tenancies.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
We have committed to provide at least six months’ notice of our first implementation date after which all new tenancies will be periodic and governed by the new rules. To avoid a two-tier rental sector, and to make sure landlords and tenants are clear on their rights, all existing tenancies will transition to a new system on a second implementation date.
This phased implementation will support tenants, landlords and agents to adjust to and understand the new rules, while making sure that tenants can benefit from the new system as soon as reasonably possible. We will provide more details about our implementation plans in due course.
Mentions:
1: Baroness Swinburne (Con - Life peer) The Renters (Reform) Bill had its Second Reading in the House of Commons on Monday 23 October 2023. - Speech Link
2: Baroness Swinburne (Con - Life peer) vital that we deliver reform in a way that both protects the security of private tenants and retains - Speech Link
3: Baroness Swinburne (Con - Life peer) and choice for renters in cities and towns across England. - Speech Link
4: Baroness Swinburne (Con - Life peer) It is clear to me when I read the Renters (Reform) Bill that it strikes a balance between providing renters - Speech Link
5: Lord Best (XB - Life peer) Is the Renters (Reform) Bill going to bring in at long last regulation of property agents so that we - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: None In that research, we asked tenants what they wanted from future private rented sector reform. - Speech Link
2: None JRF is supportive of efforts to improve the situation for low-income renters, because renters have been - Speech Link
3: None but it is important.A heap of things are running—short-term lets legislation, private rented sector reform - Speech Link
4: None We rely heavily on advertised rents, and the data on broad rental market areas is also heavily weighted - Speech Link
5: None We feel that a wider approach could provide better stability for the housing market and rental costs - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: None and Communities Committee and the Minister of State for Housing and Planning, on the Renters (Reform - Speech Link
2: Ben Everitt (Con - Milton Keynes North) To make in-roads, we must reform the private rental market. - Speech Link
3: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (LAB - Brighton, Kemptown) that I am the co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group for renters and rental reform and am supported - Speech Link
4: Fleur Anderson (Lab - Putney) I thank the London Renters Union, Generation Rent, Shelter, Crisis and the Renters Reform Coalition for - Speech Link