Labour will press ahead with banning landlords from discriminating against people with children when they try to rent out a property, the Housing Minister has said.
Matthew Pennycook told i this practice, which can also have an impact on pregnant renters, was “completely unacceptable”. He added that landlords and letting agents reported to local councils for such discrimination will be fined up to £7,000 under the Renters’ Rights Bill.
“If landlords think they can get around this bill… they’re wrong,” Mr Pennycook said. Landlords will be able to appeal fines via tribunal but if they’re found to repeatedly discriminate against renters with families they could be fined multiple times.
Labour’s landmark legislation, which returned to Parliament on Wednesday for its second reading one month after its first appearance, also aims to outlaw no-fault evictions. The bill is expected to become law soon.
The Conservatives promised to reform private renting to make housing more secure for 11 million people in England in 2019, and the party’s Renters’ (Reform) Bill was introduced into the House of Commons in 2023. However, the previous government ran out of time to pass the legislation before the election.
Labour’s Renters’ Rights Bill will outlaw the practice of landlords and letting agents discriminating against renters who have children. They will introduce fines which are significantly higher than those proposed by the Conservatives in their Renters’ Reform Bill.
Pregnant women turned away
This rule would help the likes of Maria (not her real name), a 39-year-old private renter from London, who told i she believes she has been turned away from property viewings because she is pregnant.
Maria, who is expecting her first child in three months, said she urgently needs to find a home after she received a Section 21 “no-fault” eviction notice earlier in her pregnancy.
“I’ve been trying to cover up my bump,” said Maria, who is viewing homes alone.
“As soon as agents see [my bump], they tell me the homes I’m trying to get aren’t ‘suitable’ for me or make comments like ‘those stairs will be too difficult for you’.
“It’s a madness out there and really terrifying,” Maria added. “What am I supposed to do? As a single pregnant woman, I’m at the bottom of the pile.”
Some landlords and letting agents may prefer not to rent to pregnant women or people with children over fears that they are more difficult to evict, that they may have outgoings that need to be prioritised over paying rent or that children could cause damage to the property.
Similarly, people who rely on state support such as housing benefit or universal credit are sometimes discriminated against because landlords fear they will have more complex needs, such as employment or physical and mental health issues. However, these assumptions are not necessarily founded.
Responding to Maria’s story, Mr Pennycook said Labour wants its bill to “ban rental discrimination against renters with children and those who receive benefits of any kind”.
“I’ve come across this issue myself as a constituency MP,” said Mr Pennycook, who is MP for Greenwich and Woolwich.
“What we’re trying to do through this bill is clamp down on discrimination, for example by [targeting] adverts that say, ‘No people on benefits,’ as well as intentional discrimination that can happen in person.”
Under the Renters’ Rights Bill, those found continuing to ban renters who rely on benefits or who have children will be reported to local councils and, potentially, fined.
Labour is “absolutely determined to outlaw” such discrimination for good, he added.
In theory, this sort of discrimination is already unlawful under the Equalities Act 2010 but it is difficult to enforce.
Mr Pennycook said that local councils will be able to impose fines of up to £7,000 on landlords or anyone acting on their behalf – such as agents – for rental discrimination. The bill states that landlords and letting agents can receive multiple penalties for continued and repeated breaches.
“We think that [the fines] will act as a deterrent and [think] very clear messages [are being] sent through the legislation: these practices are unacceptable.”
No-fault evictions
Mr Pennycook would not commit to a date for when the ban on “no-fault” evictions – a leading cause of homelessness – would come into force but said his “target” is summer 2025 after the bill receives royal assent and becomes law. The previous Conservative Government argued that Section 21 could not be banned until the county court system was reformed. However, there was also opposition to the ban from the party’s backbenches which caused delays to their bill.
Currently, landlords can evict renters with just two months’ notice but under the new legislation, private renters will be protected from eviction for 12 months from the start of their tenancy.
After that initial period, landlords who want to regain possession of their property for legitimate reasons – such as wanting to sell it or move in themselves – will be required to give four months’ notice.
Another major change proposed by the Renters’ Rights Bill is that all private landlords will have to register with the Government via a new portal.
Local councils will be able to issue fines of up to £7,000 for landlords who fail to do this. Repeat offenders could be fined up to £40,000, face criminal proceedings or be issued with a banning order preventing them from letting out homes.
Mr Pennycook said there would be consequences for “unscrupulous” landlords trying to “operate completely outside of this legal regime”.
“If they try to serve an eviction notice, it won’t be valid in law if they move outside of the system.
“We’re confident the bill will stamp out rogue practices,” Mr Pennycook added.
Rent hikes
Renters’ Rights advocates are broadly happy with the bill. Ben Twomey, the chief executive of the lobby group Generation Rent, told i: “This law offers long-overdue protections from arbitrary eviction and will improve standards in our homes.”
However, he argued that Labour should go further “to shield tenants from the cost of renting crisis that is fuelling poverty and homelessness”.
Mr Twomey called on Mr Pennycook to offer private renters’ “compensation” if they are evicted “through no fault” of their own as well as more provisions to limit landlords’ “ability to raise rents”.
Private rents are still rising above inflation. According to Office for National Statistics (ONS) data, average UK private rents increased by 8.4 per cent between August 2023 and 2024.
While Labour has said it will not introduce rent control, the bill proposes new rent stabilisation measures which would limit how much landlords can increase rents for existing tenants.
Mr Pennycook said the bill will “help with the cost of renting” by regulating “how rent increases can take place”.
Landlords would only be able to increase rents once a year, in line with market rents, and tenants would need two months’ notice. Renters would be able to challenge above-market rate increases through tribunals.
In Mr Pennycook’s view, the tribunal will effectively review rents and decide what the standard price should be in any given area based on the evidence they receive from renters and landlords.
“We think [this] provides a robust enough provision that will ensure tenants aren’t evicted by rent hikes… that could have effectively meant Section 21 by the back door.”
“Good landlords”, he said, have “nothing to worry about” with the Renters’ Rights Bill, adding that it will create a “more stable and secure” private rental market.
Representatives for private landlords are also broadly supportive of the bill. Chris Norris, policy and campaigns director for the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA), said: “The reality is that the vast majority of tenants already have a good relationship with their landlord. This should be the norm for everyone in the sector.”
Speaking to i at his office at the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Mr Pennycook also responded to reports about his friendship with the author of an independent Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) research paper about the benefits of introducing VAT to private school fees.
Mr Pennycook was reportedly the best man at the wedding of Luke Sibieta, a research fellow at the IFS, who published the report in 2023.
Asked if he thought his friendship with Mr Sibieta undermined the report’s independence, he said: “I find that notion laughable. If I’m honest… the idea that the Institute for Fiscal Studies has compromised its objectivity – its independence – because someone I happen to know from many years ago did their job and wrote a report… I think it’s ludicrous.”
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