The government, who are on Easter recess at the moment until April 15, have mentioned their intent to bring the Renters Reform Bill back to the House of Commons as soon as parliament reconvenes. As of today’s date I cannot find any mention of the debate in the parliamentary calendar, although the government can introduce items into the schedule with almost no notice.

The truth of the situation is that in the vast majority of rentals, the landlords and tenants are in a mutually dependant association. Good landlords don’t evict good tenants without good reason – why would they? As someone who owns a student rental property, Section 21 is needed to ensure the tenant moves out at the end of the academic year, thus allow cleaning and refurbishment ready for the following years intake. Without it students have a tendency to want to stay another month or so which disrupts the cycle and the following years rental.

The press and homeless charities state over 26,000 Section 21 notices were issued in 2023. No breakdown on the figures has been forthcoming, nor has there been any information on their belief that because only two months of notice is given on a Section 21, it is the major driver of homelessness.

Large numbers of landlords have already sold up due to the uncertainty of the outcome of the Renters Reform Act. On the other side of the arguments activists and tenant-based charities have been critical of the changes to the original Bill which was deemed anti landlord in its first draft.

Just before the Easter recess, plans for the amendments to the Bill, were announced which included ensuring the courts and whole justice system would be able to cope with the additional workload – something it has not been able to keep up with yet. That student housing in all its forms have the protections needed to ensure properties are available from the start of term.