TENS of thousands of renters are set to be forced out of their homes by unaffordable annual rent hikes due to a gap in the Renters’ Rights Bill, campaigners warned today.

Housing and Planning Minister Matthew Pennycook said the government will seek to “drive out disreputable landlords from the sector” with the new legislation, introduced today.

The Bill aims to “decisively level the playing field between landlords and tenants” but “good landlords have nothing to fear,” Mr Pennycook said.

The government has confirmed the proposed legislation includes a blanket ban on no-fault evictions under Section 21, which allows landlords to evict tenants at two months’ notice without providing a reason.

The previous government pledged to end such evictions, but its version of the Bill was delayed following lobbying by landlords and ran out of time to progress.

Bailiff repossessions under Section 21 have reached their highest level for six years, according to Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures.

Research by charity Shelter has found that 26,000 households have been evicted using the practice since 2019.

The Bill would also ban mid-tenancy hikes, but allows landlords to raise rent once a year at the market rate.

Renters’ rights groups and homelessness charities welcomed the Bill but warned an annual rate does not do enough to protect tenants.

London Renters Union spokesperson Jae Vail said banning no-fault evictions was long overdue but said it “means little” if landlords can still drive people out with sky-high rent hikes.

They said: “In recent years, tenants across the country have been hit with sweeping, large rent increases and it is clear that market rates cannot be used as a benchmark for any regulation.

“People are at breaking point and we can no longer tolerate half measures.

“England’s 11 million tenants need rent controls now so we can stop living in fear and start planning for our future. 

“After we saw that an unscrupulous landlord (Ilford South Labour MP Jas Atwal) has been allowed to hold a position within Starmer’s government, it’s time for Labour to put the needs of ordinary renters before private profit.”

Renters’ Reform Coalition director Tom Darling said the Bill was stronger than the previous attempt and includes recommendations made by campaigners.  

But he stressed it was essential that safeguards to prevent unfair or fraudulent evictions from taking place were included in the Bill to ensure any potential loopholes “be shut tight.”

He added: “We will continue to call for a cap on rent increases within tenancies, to keep more renters in their homes for longer.

“With rents rising at record levels, the government knows it will need answers on the affordability question.”

Generation Rent chief executive Ben Twomey said renters risk being left with no financial support to find a new home in difficult circumstances, calling on the government to act to “soften this blow.”

“The government has also promised to provide tenants with greater protections against unreasonable rent increases, but more work is required to make this a reality,” he said.

“The Bill will ban scheduled unaffordable rent increases from being written into contracts but we remain vulnerable to backdoor rent-hike evictions.

“The proposed blanket ban on landlords pitting tenant against tenant in bidding wars cannot come soon enough, but if landlords are allowed to continue with unchecked and unaffordable rent rises, thousands more of us will still be forced into poverty and on to the streets.”

Big Issue founder Lord Bird said the Bill is not a “golden bullet for renters’ rights,” warning that it does not deal with the “spiralling cost” of tenancies.

He called on the government to “stand firm behind its promises and not bow to pressure from the landlord lobby.”

Shelter chief executive Polly Neate said the Bill “must be a fresh start to fix private renting.”

She said: “With notice periods so short and more than 60,000 renters forced out of their homes by rent hikes in the past year alone, renters will expect bold action to deliver the security they’ve long been promised — no ifs, no buts.”