Renters Rights Bill

A Bill to change the law about rented homes, including provision abolishing fixed term assured tenancies and assured shorthold tenancies; imposing obligations on landlords and others in relation to rented homes and temporary and supported accommodation.

The Bill will:

• abolish section 21 evictions and move to a simpler tenancy structure where all assured tenancies are periodic
• ensure possession grounds are fair to both parties, giving tenants more security, while ensuring landlords can recover their property when reasonable
• provide stronger protections against backdoor eviction by ensuring tenants are able to appeal excessive above-market rents which are purely designed to force them out
• introduce a new Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman that will provide a quick, fair, impartial and binding resolution for tenants' complaints about their landlord
• create a Private Rented Sector Database to help landlords understand their legal obligations and demonstrate compliance, alongside providing better information to tenants to make informed decisions when entering into a tenancy agreement
• give tenants strengthened rights to request a pet in the property, which the landlord must consider and cannot unreasonably refuse
• apply the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector
• apply 'Awaab's Law' to the sector, setting clear legal expectations about the timeframes within which landlords in the private rented sector must take action to make homes safe where they contain serious hazards
• make it illegal for landlords and agents to discriminate against prospective tenants in receipt of benefits or with children
• end the practice of rental bidding by prohibiting landlords and agents from asking for or accepting offers above the advertised rent
• strengthen local authority enforcement by expanding civil penalties, introducing a package of investigatory powers and bringing in a new requirement for local authorities to report on enforcement activity
• strengthen rent repayment orders by extending them to superior landlords, doubling the maximum penalty and ensuring repeat offenders have to repay the maximum amount

Fuel poverty and the decarbonisation of housing stock

Sustainable Warmth is the updated Fuel Poverty Strategy for England and sets out how councils will tackle fuel poverty, while at the same time decarbonising buildings. This will ensure those in fuel poverty are not left behind on the move to net zero, and, where possible, can be some of the earliest to benefit. A review of the Fuel Poverty Strategy is currently ongoing.

In 2024, the government committed to a Warm Homes Plan to upgrade five million homes over the next five years to cut bills for families and deliver warmer homes to slash fuel poverty. This ambition is a key part of the government’s ‘second mission’ to transform Britain into a clean energy superpower, including providing the country with clean energy by 2030, reducing bills, and transitioning homes to clean heat as part of our wider ambition to reach net zero by 2050. 

The Warm Homes Plan includes an allocation of £500 million for local authorities to deliver a new ‘Warm Homes: Local Grant’ scheme from 2025 to 2028, and further plans to extend the scheme to 2030.