Renters' Rights Bill: Reasoned Amendment to Second Reading

MPs rejected a Conservative reasoned amendment (a procedural motion to block a bill's progress) at Second Reading of the Renters' Rights Bill on 9 October 2024, by 424 votes to 104. The amendment would have prevented the Bill from advancing any further through Parliament. Its defeat meant the Bill passed its Second Reading and proceeded to the next legislative stage. The Renters' Rights Bill is one of the most significant reforms to the private rented sector in England in decades. Its central measure is the abolition of section 21 "no-fault" evictions, under which landlords can currently remove tenants without giving a specific reason. Beyond that, the Bill bans rental bidding wars, gives tenants a right to request pets, prohibits landlords from discriminating against tenants with children or on benefits, introduces a mandatory landlord ombudsman scheme, and applies new Decent Homes Standards to private rentals. Rejecting the amendment cleared the path for all of these measures to be scrutinised in detail at later stages. The vote divided almost entirely along party lines. All 312 Labour MPs who voted, all 62 Liberal Democrats, all 35 Labour and Co-operative MPs, and the three Green MPs voted against the amendment, supporting the Bill's progress. All 97 Conservatives who voted backed the amendment. Reform UK's six voting MPs also backed the amendment, as did one MP from Restore Britain and two independents. Seven independents voted with the government. The Bill's passage through Second Reading had been anticipated, given Labour's large majority, but the debate highlighted the contested ground around landlord rights and the court system's capacity to handle possession cases. The previous Conservative government had itself committed to abolishing section 21 in its 2019 manifesto but had not passed the legislation before leaving office.