Government must go further with Renters Reform Bill

The Renters Reform Bill will help protect Londoners living in the private rented sector, but more must be done with the Bill to address affordability of rent in London.

The London Assembly believes that the Mayor should be given greater powers within the Bill to further regulate London’s private rented sector.

Because of this, it is today calling on the Government to amend the Bill to give the Mayor powers to freeze and control rents, and for the Mayor to continue engaging with tenants and landlords to urgently establish the planned London Rent Commission.

Sem Moema AM, who proposed the motion, said:

“London’s private rented sector is in urgent need of reform.

“We welcome provisions in the Renters Reform Bill to ban no-fault evictions, finally bringing to an end Section 21. The Government has missed an opportunity to bring the Decent Homes Standard to the sector, which is home to over a third of Londoners.

“One in five of London’s private rented homes are non-decent and Londoners have waited long enough to be given protections afforded by the standard.

“London’s private renters are also facing record high rents. We encourage the Government to devolve power to the Mayor to continue his work with landlords and tenants to urgently establish a Rent Commission to address this crisis and set out proposals for regulating London’s rents.”

The full text of the motion is:

The Assembly welcomes provisions within the Renters Reform Bill to abolish section 21 evictions.

However, the Government first pledged to ban section 21 evictions in April 2019 so it is disappointing that this is still yet to be implemented more than four years on. Since April 2019, almost 10,000 Londoners have been threatened with eviction under section 21.^[1] The Assembly notes that the majority of households owed a homelessness duty by local authorities and living in temporary accommodation are homeless because they were evicted by their landlord serving a no-fault section 21 eviction notice.

It's also concerning that the proposed Decent Homes Standard for the private rented sector is not on the face of the Bill.

The Bill also does little to address affordability, with London’s private rents increasing at around 15% in the past year – far higher than wages. Local Housing Allowance rates have not increased since 2020, forcing thousands of low-income Londoners to top up benefits payments to cover their rent and being forced to choose between keeping a roof over their heads, keeping the lights on, or feeding their families.

Without action to tackle this issue, London faces an increase in homelessness with rent increases coming within the context of a broader cost of living crisis.

The Assembly notes that:

• Rents in London are at record levels, with average asking prices reaching £2,500 for the first time.^[2]
• London’s private rented sector is in crisis with demand vastly outstripping supply and too many households living in poor quality accommodation.
• Private renting is the fastest growing housing tenure in London^[3] and is vital to providing homes for Londoners. So, it’s vital that regulation is strengthened so Londoners can access high-quality, secure housing in the private rented sector (PRS).
• That the Mayor is building a record number of affordable homes, having met the targets of the 2015-2023 Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) of 116,000 starts, contributing towards addressing London’s housing need.

This Assembly notes the need for London-specific solutions to the crisis affecting the capital’s private rented sector; Government has missed an opportunity to do this through the Renters Reform Bill. To this end, the Assembly supports the Mayor’s call to be granted the power to freeze and control rents in London.

The Assembly calls for:

• Government to amend the Renters Reform Bill to grant powers to the Mayor of London to further regulate London’s private rented sector, including the power to freeze and control rents.
• Government to urgently bring forward legislation to bring the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector as proposed in the Renters Reform white paper.
• The Mayor to continue work with tenants and landlords to urgently establish the planned London Rent Commission and to develop evidence for and models of regulation for our city’s private rented sector.
• The Mayor to continue to lobby Government to increase funding to London for the delivery of affordable homes.