It has been confirmed over the weekend that a group of 49 ‘rebel’ Tory MPs are working hard have the Renters (Reform) Bill amended.

Although campaign groups such as Shelter and Generation Rent have previously portrayed the group, which includes several high-profile politicians including Theresa Villiers, Jacob Rees-Mogg (main picture) and Bob Blackman, as ‘watering down’ the Bill, the MPs say they only want to ensure the legislation doesn’t harm the private rental sector.

The main thrust of their half a dozen amendments is to ensure that bringing in a Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions ban is at least paused until severe delays at many County Courts are solved.

Gove appeared to reject this request when he said in a recent BBC interview that this kind of eviction would go ahead before the next election even though most legal experts, including the Law Society, say solving court delays will take much longer.

Amendements

Other amendments include loosening the proof of evidence when evicting anti-social tenants; getting rid of landlords licencing when the national register goes live as the two are basically the same thing; and requiring tenants to commit to at least four months in a property before giving notice.

But the rebel MPs say that, unless the Renters (Reform) Bill is amended, they will vote against it which, given Rishi Sunak only has a majority of 53, would cause a major headache for government whips.

“I have been saying for a long time that the Renters (Reform) Bill needs amending if the Government’s Section 21 evictions ban is to be workable,” says Paul Shamplina (pitured), founder of Landlord Action.

“While everyone wants to see rogue landlords stopped from using Section 21 irresponsibly, good landlords need to have certainty that they can remove tenants within a reasonable timeframe when tenants stop paying the rent, have damaged a property or are being antisocial.

“The courts are a mess at the moment and we’ve handled many cases where landlords are waiting over a year to evict troublesome tenants – so something needs to be done.”