In the 2019 Queen’s Speech and parliamentary session that followed, the Government made several commitments relating to housing, communities, and local government.

This included plans to introduce new regimes for building safety in high-rise buildings and to introduce legislation to reform the rental market.

Renter’s reform bill

In the 2019 Queen’s Speech, the Government announced that it would be introducing a renter’s reform bill. The legislation would introduce several reforms to “deliver a fairer and more effective rental market”. This would include:

• abolishing the use of ‘no fault’ evictions by removing section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 (the 1988 act) and reforming the grounds for possession;
• reforming current legislation to give landlords more rights to gain possession of their property through the courts where there is a legitimate need for them to do so;
•  introducing a new lifetime deposit to remove the need for tenants to pay a new deposit if or when they move; and
• measures to widen access to and expand the scope of the database of rogue landlords and property agents.

In 2021, the Government was asked by Ian Lavery (Labour MP for Wansbeck) if it would be abolishing no fault evictions. Responding, Christopher Pincher stated that the Government “remained committed” to removing section 21 of the 1988 act through the introduction of a renter’s reform bill. However, it said it would only introduce the legislation at the “appropriate time, once the urgencies of responding to the [Covid-19] pandemic have passed”.

To read more on the other items click this link: Queen’s Speech 2021: housing, communities and local government - House of Lords Library (parliament.uk)