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In its election manifesto, Labour pledges to enact the “immediate” abolition of Section 21 eviction powers, along with other private rental sector reforms, should it win the general election. It said:

“We will immediately abolish Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, prevent private renters being exploited and discriminated against, empower them to challenge unreasonable rent increases, and take steps to decisively raise standards, including extending ‘Awaab’s Law’ to the private sector.”

Commenting on the manifesto, Isobel Thomson, chief executive of safeagent, the UK’s largest not-for-profit accreditation scheme for lettings and management agents, says:

“Any legislation that raises standards is welcome and we look forward to seeing the detail of how the Section 21 abolition will work in practice should Labour win the general election.

“The enforcement required to underpin this legislation will need to be properly funded so we assume that an increased budget for local authorities to accommodate this has been factored in.

“We don’t like the ‘tenants as victims’ rhetoric that is circulating as there are many decent landlords ably supported by professional agents out there trying to do a good job. Ultimately, a fully-functioning PRS needs to work for landlords and tenants alike with one not gaining at the expense of the other.”