Date Published 10 June 2024
With a General Election being called for July 4th many of us are wondering what may happen to the current Renters Reform Bill. The Renters Reform Bill is part way through its Parliamentary process having gone through the House of Commons and has had its first reading in the House of Lords. From here it should go on to the committee stage next and then would go through its final procedures in the House of Lords before being given Royal Assent and becoming law.
Typically, there is a gap of several days between the announcement of an election and the dissolution of Parliament (including the House of Lords). During this interim period, Parliament will operate under a process known as 'wash-up'. Any Parliamentary matters that are left unfinished by the conclusion of ‘wash-up' will not progress. This signifies that Bills that have not been granted Royal Assent will not be ratified and cannot be carried over to the subsequent Parliament, regardless if the Conservative's win in the election.
Some Bills do get rushed in this ‘wash-up' period but a rush to rapidly pass the Renters Reform Bill would require the co-operation of Labour. The opposition has said it will not vote against the Bill as it currently stands - but there may simply not be time for it to finish all its stages before polling day. Labour may see an opportunity here to recreate their own version of the Renters Reform Bill if they were to win the election.
As part of our weekly news articles, we have been following this subject continuously and will keep you updated on any further developments. Whichever party that wins the election, there is no doubt their will be some alternative new Bill that will be made to tackle the issues facing many tenants and Landlords. In the next few weeks running up to the election we're sure to see different parties' policies made clearer on how they will address the Renters Reform Bill.
