Lisa Nandy MP: Labour’s Renter’s Rights Act will improve the lives of millions of tenants across the country
Last week saw an historic moment as the Renter’s Rights Act received Royal Assent, officially marking the start of the biggest overhaul of the rental market in England for three decades.
Eleven million private renters in England will benefit from a fairer system that will no longer leave renters vulnerable to unfair treatment and housing insecurity.
In line with our manifesto commitment, this landmark piece of legislation will abolish section 21 "no fault" evictions, giving peace of mind to tenants and ending a practice that sees many threatened with homelessness through no fault of their own.
This change will empower tenants to challenge housing conditions and rent increases without the fear of reprisal and eviction.
The Act also takes aim at backdoor evictions, giving tenants the power to challenge excessive above market rent increases which are purely designed to force them out.
This will be combined with a new private rented sector landlord ombudsman who will provide quick, impartial and binding resolutions for tenants’ complaints.
A new database of private landlords will be created that will help landlords understand their legal obligations and give confidence to the majority of landlords who act responsibly.
This will also act as an important source of information for prospective tenants, so they will no longer be in the dark when signing tenancy agreements.
For tenants who are new to the rental market we have introduced two more important changes.
It will be illegal for landlords to discriminate against prospective tenants who have children or who are in receipt of benefits and we will end the exploitative practice of rental bidding by prohibiting landlords or agents from asking for or accepting offers above the advertised rent.
This act also gives tenants the right to request a pet in their property, which landlords must give consideration to and cannot unreasonably refuse.
Locally, we have already begun to make strides in fixing our broken housing system.
After speaking with residents throughout the constituency I wrote to Wigan Council asking them what powers they had to regulate the rapid growth of HMOs.
I was delighted that shortly afterwards the full council voted to introduce an Article 4 direction across the whole of Wigan, which requires all new HMOs to apply for planning permission.
More widely across Greater Manchester, the Good Landlord Charter introduced by our region’s Labour Mayor Andy Burnham now covers over half of the rental properties across the region, which supports and champions the vast majority who provide good quality accommodation that goes beyond simply adhering to the national minimum standards.
I am proud to have been the Shadow Housing Secretary when Labour committed to introducing Awaab’s law, named for Awaab Ishak who tragically died in Rochdale in 2020 from exposure to mould in social housing.
Now, as part of this Act, there is a clear legal expectation for the timeframe in which action must be taken to make homes safe from serious health hazards.
Everybody deserves to have a decent home that they can feel safe in and with the changes Labour is making both nationally and locally we are determined to make that a reality.