Amending Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988

Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Housing and Local Government – in the Senedd at 2:51 pm on 27 March 2019.

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Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 2:51, 27 March 2019

Yes. I think the Member is absolutely right. I mean, there are a number of complexities here around why the sector is as it is, but there's no doubt at all that sudden eviction for no apparent reason is a real scourge. We know that it happens and we know that many landlords would never dream of doing such a thing, but we do know that it happens, so we need to get the regulation to be proportionate—he's right. We need to get the length of tenancies right. I think Jenny Rathbone particularly mentioned the difference between young, single people who have mobile careers and families and so on. So, we need to get to a situation where we've implemented our own Act that addresses some of those issues, and that we implement it in the light of changes that reflect changing policy and real circumstances across the UK, and that we do so in a way that both doesn't put off landlords from offering their property for rent, but also does allow the security of tenure that allows people to have the stable and secure accommodation that they want. 

In particular, we're looking to have landlords co-operate with us and come on board with schemes that would allow the private rented sector to participate in, effectively, a social rent so that they have a guaranteed rental income from one of the registered social landlords or a local housing authority by which they give over their property for a lengthier period of time for an arrangement that guarantees the level of rent, and so on. So, we are looking at a range of resources here, but I do think that most people would agree that being able to be evicted for no reason at all just at the drop of a hat is something that we need to address.