Renters’ Rights Bill: Motion to disagree with Lords Amendment 26

What happened: On 8 September 2025, the House of Commons voted by 404 to 98 to disagree with Lords Amendment 26 to the Renters' Rights Bill. This meant MPs rejected a change that the House of Lords had made to the bill and voted to restore the government's original text. The motion passed comfortably, continuing a pattern of the Commons overturning Lords amendments to this legislation on the same day.

Why it matters: The Renters' Rights Bill is the government's flagship housing legislation, intended to overhaul the private rented sector in England. By rejecting Lords Amendment 26, the Commons preserved whatever provision the government had originally drafted in place of the Lords' preferred modification. The bill as a whole is designed to strengthen protections for tenants, including abolishing no-fault evictions and reforming how landlords can end tenancies. Each rejected Lords amendment represents a decision to keep the government's original approach rather than accept changes introduced during the Lords' scrutiny of the bill, meaning the final legislation will more closely reflect what the government originally proposed.

The politics: The vote divided almost entirely along party lines. All 289 Labour MPs and 36 Labour and Co-operative MPs who voted supported the government, as did all 62 Liberal Democrats, all 4 Democratic Unionist Party members, all 3 Green MPs, and several smaller parties and independents. All 88 Conservatives who voted opposed the motion, joined by all 6 Reform UK members and 2 independents. There were no notable cross-party rebels in either direction. This vote was one of several held on the same day in which the Commons rejected Lords amendments to the bill, with comparable margins recorded on amendments 11, 18, 19, and 39, suggesting a coordinated government effort to return the bill to its original shape after Lords scrutiny.