Renters’ Rights Bill clears House of Lords bringing to end peers’ ‘tenant and landlord battle’

The Renters’ Rights Bill has finally cleared the House of Lords and taken one step closer to making it into law.

Peers passed the long-awaited legislation following a third reading on Monday (21 July). Labour had been targeting the Renters’ Rights Bill coming into force this summer to deliver on a manifesto promise to abolish no-fault evictions immediately.

Section 21 evictions, as they are also known, allow landlords to evict tenants from private rented homes without giving a reason and are considered a leading driver of homelessness.

But rent campaigners have warned that some parts of the bill may not come into effect until next year.

The Renters’ Rights Bill now goes into ‘ping-pong’ where it will move between the House of Commons and the Lords until politicians put it forward for royal assent. That’s likely to be in the autumn as parliament’s summer recess arrives on Thursday (24 July).

The third reading passed quickly on Monday, taking just 20 minutes.

Baroness Sharon Taylor, representing the government, said: “I believe that we are in broad agreement that this bill is long overdue and are looking forward to it making a real difference to the people who rely on the sector to live and work.

“While there may be disagreement on some of the issues that we’ve debated, I know we all share the same aim of ensuring the private rented sector continues to work for all.”

Pro-landlord groups have long warned that the introduction of the legislation and increased regulation will see landlords sell their properties. They have argued that this will mean fewer homes for renters and potentially lead to increased homelessness.

But it remains to be seen whether that is the case.

Tory peer Baroness Scott said, in opposition during the third reading, that the bill would reduce rental homes, citing figures from Savills that show a fall of 42% of rental properties in the first quarter of 2025.

“I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the noble baroness, the minister,” said Baroness Scott.

“She has shown courtesy, patience and great resilience throughout this process, defending what we consider a difficult bill, often an indefensible one. She has defended a policy that we think reflects more political positioning than practical policy making. Despite her efforts, we are left with a piece of legislation that risks doing more harm than good.”

A survey from the TDS (Tenancy Deposit Scheme) Charitable Foundation this week suggested the number of landlords purchasing new properties is increasing.

The survey of 200,000 private landlords in England found 23% said they had increased the number of properties they rent out in the last year, up from 19% last year.

By comparison, the proportion of landlords who said they had sold property sat at 14%, around the 13% recorded last year.

Landlords who bought properties this year purchased an average of 2.5 each, up from 2.2 last year. This is also higher than the average of 2.3 properties sold by those selling during the same period.

Liberal Democrat Baroness Thornhill said the bill’s passage through parliament has often felt like a “battle between tenants and landlords”.

The peer added: “It has been said that good landlords have nothing to fear from these reforms and we on these benches sincerely hope that will prove to be the case.”

Read more:

• The Renters’ Rights Bill promises more security – but it won’t tackle high rents crippling renters
• Labour must stop landlords hiking rents if Keir Starmer is to help working people
• Renters face higher deposits just for owning a pet. It’s wrong to squeeze more cash out of them

Clearing the House of Lords is an important step for the long-awaited private rental reforms.

It’s more than six years since then-prime minister Theresa May pledged to axe no-fault evictions.

The Tories failed to deliver on that promise with the Renters Reform Bill before Labour introduced the Renters’ Rights Bill when they came into power.

But it could be 2026 by the time parts of the bill come into force, depending on parliamentary scheduling. A government spokesperson previously told Big Issue “that time will be allowed for a ‘smooth transition’ once the bill receives royal assent”.

The Renters’ Rights Bill aims to shift the power balance between tenants and landlords, offering renters more security.

As well as greater eviction protections, the bill will introduce a decent homes standard, a right to keep a pet and look to prevent discrimination against renters with children or in receipt of benefits.

But the bill has faced criticism for failing to deal with the affordability crisis in the private rented sector. Labour has introduced measures to ban bidding wars in the bill but there are few other efforts to deal with record-high rents.

The Renters’ Rights Bill’s journey through the House of Lords had already seen the bill changed ahead of Monday’s third reading.

Rent campaigners warned a number of amendments at the previous report stage threatened to “significantly undermine” the bill.

Changes to the bill included new possession grounds allowing landlords to evict tenants to house carers or agricultural workers and requiring a very high standard of proof for a landlord to be fined for discrimination or conducting bidding wars.

Further changes included halving the amount of time a property cannot be re-let after landlords evicted a tenant to sell up. Campaigners argued this could make it easier for landlords to exploit this eviction ground to kick tenants out with no intention to sell.

The Renters Reform Coalition accused a number of peers behind the amendments of acting to preserve the interests of landlords.

The pressure groups found more than a quarter of peers in the upper chamber are either landlords or have ties to lettings or property interests. Several of the peers who amended the legislation are landlords, according to the Lords’ register of interests, including Lord Keen of Elie, the Earl of Kinnoull, the Earl of Leicester and Baroness Neville-Rolfe.

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