Blow for millions of households as two long-promised reforms ditched ahead of election
MILLIONS of Brits suffered a huge blow today as Rishi Sunak abandoned major promises on rental and leasehold reform.
The PM sparked fury as he ditched the 2019 Tory manifesto promise to ban no-fault evictions.
The move will leave around 12 million private tenants vulnerable to being kicked out of their home for no reason.
And a vow to cap ground rents on leasehold flats, impacting around five million desperate homeowners, was thrown to the waste side.
The long-promised laws were shelved hours before parliament shuts down for the general election campaign.
Around seven Bills are expected to be rammed through in time as part of the “wash up” process, including compensation for victims of the Post Office and infected blood scandals.
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Labour today accused ministers of succumbing to the “vested interests” of landlord Tory MPs, which delayed and ultimately stopped the passing of the Renters Reform Bill.
Shadow Housing Secretary Matthew Pennycook said: “The Tories’ decision to cave in to vested interests and abandon the Renters Reform Bill leaves in tatters the promises they made to private tenants five years ago.
“Labour will pass renters reform legislation that levels decisively the playing field between landlords and tenants.”
Tom Darling, Campaign Manager at the Renters Reform Coalition added: “The Renters Bill had already been undermined by repeated government concessions to landlord groups – resulting in a bill that in any case wouldn’t have made much of a dent in England’s renting crisis.
“The next government must do much better. We look forward to parties setting out their proposals to improve renting standards, security and affordability – we’ll be looking closely at the manifestos, as I’m sure will England’s 12 million private renters.”
While Michael Gove‘s pledge to cap ground rents was abandoned, some reforms to home ownership made it through the wash up.
There will now be a ban on new-build houses operating as a leasehold.
And existing flat leaseholders will be granted the ability to extend their lease by 990 years, take control of their service charges and block management with enfranchisement.
Harry Scoffin, spokesperson for the Free Leaseholders campaign, said: “Millions of leaseholders, including Conservative voters, will be devastated by this news.
“The Big Freeholders are laughing all the way to the bank.
“A Conservative 2019 manifesto pledge to peppercorn ground rents scrapped at the last minute. But will Labour in power go where the Tories have ultimately failed?”
THE so-called “wash-up” period refers to the final days of a Parliament before dissolution, which is due to take place on Friday May 30.
Because there is not enough time to complete parliamentary consideration in the usual way, the Government has to rely on the cooperation of the Opposition to pass important legislation during this time.
The Government and opposition negotiate to decide which bills, or specific parts of bills, should be expedited through their remaining stages to become law before the parliament dissolves.
This often involves strategic decisions where the government may agree to abandon certain bills or clauses in exchange for the Opposition’s support to fast-track others.
The wash-up period can also include time set aside for the consideration of private member’s bills, which are usually proposed by members of parliament who are not part of the government cabinet.