Renters are facing eviction from their homes while new protections are being debated in Parliament, according to a former Labour leader.
Jeremy Corbyn, Independent MP for Islington North, said property owners are using “unreasonable arguments” to end tenancies early before the new Renters’ Rights Bill becomes law.
The Bill is due to clear the Commons on Tuesday, with the Government saying it would end no-fault evictions, end bidding wars for tenancies and cap price rises faced by those in the sector.
Housing minister Matthew Pennycook acknowledged there was “a lot of bad practice in the sector” that the Government is keen to clamp down on.
However, Conservative MPs gave warnings that more changes to the law could see an exodus of landlords, limiting the supply of homes for rent and driving rents up further as a result.
Mr Corbyn asked the minister: “Is he aware that there seems to be quite a lot of landlords at the present time who are using unreasonable arguments in order to terminate tenancies or raise rents ahead of this legislation coming in?
“Is there anything that he or his department can do to protect tenants during this quite stressful period for them?”
Mr Pennycook said: “There is a lot of bad practice out there. That’s the very reason why the Government have acted so quickly to ensure these reforms are introduced and we’re confident these reforms once in place will provide tenants with the protection they deserve.
“In the interim, I’m afraid there will continue to be bad practice of the kind this Bill will stamp out.”
Shadow housing minister David Simmonds said the Bill had “many shortcomings”.
He said it could create “concerns around the availability, and the affordability of accommodation in the private rented sector”.
Mr Simmonds said: “(The Government) came after the farmers, they came after the pubs, they came after the small businesses, they came after the private schools, they came after our local councils and now this Bill, in its new form, comes after our tenants and our landlords.
“It’s very clear by the number of Government amendments which the minister referred to in his introduction, the points we made in committee, that this Bill has many shortcomings that need to be addressed.”
Mr Simmonds added: “Even a Labour council, a bastion like Lambeth, led by the Labour chair of London councils, is rushing to use section 21 to evict its own tenants in advance of this Bill, because of the impact that it will have – a Labour council and a Labour Government putting their own people out of their homes.”
Conservative former minister Graham Stuart said the previous Conservative government had made errors over the rental market, but that new Labour reforms could worsen the situation.
“With the freedom of the backbenches, I think the last Conservative government got this wrong when they stopped landlords being able to offset the interest payments on the mortgage for that commercial asset against their income,” Mr Stuart said. “It was one step among many which actually reduced the number of landlords coming into the market.”
Fellow Conservative MP Rebecca Smith (South West Devon) said: “We’ve already heard about the challenge that (landlords) have for economic drivers, and also the risk of the market shrinking. I know we talked a lot about that at second reading, but ultimately we are seeing landlords leaving the market.”
She added: “If there are fewer homes for those people to rent, we are kind of in a worse situation.”
Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Clapham and Brixton Hill), who is a renter, called for price rises to be capped at CPI or wage growth.
“I’m yet to hear a compelling reason why landlords should see their incomes grow faster than people who actually work for a living,” she said.
Green Party MP Carla Denyer (Bristol Central) spoke in favour of amending the Bill to introduce rent controls, saying: “We have people on the streets and in temporary accommodation because they cannot afford their rent.
“New clause seven proposes a ‘Living Rent Body’ to set the rules to be applied to the calculation of rent levels between tenancies. That would control rents and make them fair, considering factors such as the home’s property type, condition, size, average local incomes and so on; local flexibility would be important in this.”
Ms Denyer welcomed the Bill for giving renters a set of new rights, adding: “But rent controls are still needed because having the right to something you cannot afford and cannot access is no help to anyone.”
