Generation Rent has reacted angrily to Reform UK’s pledge to scrap the Renters’ Rights Act if it wins the next general election, with Reform arguing that the legislation is damaging the rental market.
Setting out the policy in a speech in Birmingham, the party’s UK business spokesperson Richard Tice said a future Reform government would introduce a “great repeal act” to remove what he called “daft” regulations, including tenancy reforms.
Renting too risky
He said the Renters’ Rights Act had made renting property “too risky”, claiming too many landlords had decided “enough is enough” because they feared they would be unable to regain possession, and arguing the law was reducing supply and pushing up rents.
Generation Rent immediately hit back, calling the proposal “disgraceful”. Ben Twomey (main picture), Chief Executive of Generation Rent, said: “Forcing people back into insecure and unsafe homes is not a promise, it’s a threat levelled at England’s 11 million private renters.”
A gift to unscrupulous landlords.”
He added: “It is disgraceful to see Reform UK pledging to roll back new and essential protections that would improve the quality of our homes and help us to stay in them for longer.” Twomey said the plans would be “a gift to unscrupulous landlords”, and criticised Reform for not engaging with renter groups while the legislation was going through Parliament.
Other housing organisations also criticised Reform’s stance. Shelter Chief Executive Sarah Elliott said scrapping the reforms would leave families trapped in an unfair system and give landlords “free rein to turf renters out of their homes for no good reason”.
Clara Collingwood, Interim Director at the Renters’ Reform Coalition, said removing the protections would be a “huge setback for millions of renters”, while Unison General Secretary Andrea Egan said scrapping the measures would be “a huge mistake”.
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