No-fault renters evictions bill runs out of time

The Conservatives’ promise to abolish no-fault evictions before the election will not now happen.

The Renters (Reform) Bill, which would ban landlords from evicting tenants without a reason, will not become law before parliament is shut down on Friday.

Rishi Sunak's flagship bill to eventually ban smoking will also be shelved.

Legislation has been rushed through as Friday is the last day MPs will sit in Parliament before the general election.

A separate government bill to reform leaseholds was the last piece of legislation to be debated in the House of Lords on Friday.

Labour sources indicated that while they wanted to strengthen the bill, they would back the legislation as it stood.

Despite a brief attempt at filibustering led by Conservative Lord Moylan, who was unhappy at the bill being "rushed through", the pushback petered out after a few hours and returned to the Commons, so the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill will become law.

But there was no sign of the Renters (Reform) Bill on the parliamentary timetable.

Sources from both the Conservatives and Labour told the BBC that despite ongoing negotiations, the bill would not be debated, meaning it would fall once parliament was dissolved.

Labour sources indicated that although they wanted changes, they would have supported the bill as it stood.

But a government source argued amendments from crossbench, or independent, peers in the House of Lords meant there was not enough time to pass the legislation.

The bill followed a 2019 Conservative manifesto promise to abolish Section 21 - or no-fault - evictions.

It was first introduced in the House of Commons in May last year. But its progress was delayed by opposition from a number of Conservative MPs who feared it would cause landlords to sell up and who wanted to strengthen protections for landlords.

On Thursday the bill to overturn the convictions of sub-postmasters caught up in the Horizon computer scandal passed.

The Victims and Prisoners Bill, which sets up the compensation scheme for victims of the infected blood scandal, was also passed on Friday.

There were no signs of other legislation, such as the Football Governance Bill, on Friday’s timetable.