Overview of House of Lords Committee Stage - the Renters' Rights Bill
From the 22nd April to the 14th May 2025, the House of Lords undertook a meticulous clause-by-clause review of the Renters’ Rights Bill across six sittings at Committee Stage. Each session brought forward proposed amendments, clarifications, and constructive scrutiny intended to reinforce the legislative framework, improve the Bill's enforceability, and ensure a balanced approach between tenant protection and landlord responsibility.
Committee Day 1 – 22 April 2025
Key Themes: Definitions
Peers debated the definition and removal of assured shorthold tenancies.
There was also a push to ensure that the reformed tenancy structure maintains clarity and enforceability, particularly regarding the rights of possession and eviction, to prevent unintended disruption to housing associations and local authorities.
1st May 2025 - Renters’ Rights Bill - Fourth Marshalled List for Committee – House of Lords
It’s been an interesting 3 days of the Committee Stage in the House of Lords with the being checked in detail right down to words being added or removed to ensure that the details of relevant sections are they should be.
During committee stage, amendments have been proposed, some of which have been withdrawn, some agreed and some to be ‘moved in committee of the whole house’
What Does to be ‘moved in committee of the whole house’ Mean?
When a new law, in this case, the Renters’ Rights Bill, is going through Parliament, it must pass through several stages. One of these stages is called the Committee of the Whole House.
Renters’ Rights Bill reaches Committee Stage - 22nd April 2025
Since the 2nd Reading in the House of Lords, those with a vested interest have been waiting for the date of the Committee Stage to be announced.
The dates of the sittings in the House of Lords have been published - The Committee Stage will begin on April 22nd, 2025.
House of Lords concludes 2nd Reading of the Renters’ Rights Bill
Yesterday 4th February 2025 saw the 2nd Reading of the Renters’ Rights Bill. We knew it would be a significant and crucial milestone in the journey of the Bill.
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage Opened the proceedings by stating :”The private rental system needs to change. It currently provides the least affordable, poorest quality and most insecure housing of all tenures. The insecurity it engenders creates uncertainty in the lives of tenants and allows good landlords to be undercut by the minority of rogues and chancers. In short, the 11 million private renters and the 2.3 million landlords across England are being failed. The Renters’ Rights Bill brings forward the most significant changes to the sector for nearly 40 years. The Bill will strengthen the security of tenure for tenants; ensure that they are paying a fair rent; guarantee a minimum standard that they can expect from a property; provide new robust avenues to redress; and more.”
What followed was just over 4 hours of debate from Peers who presented questions put to them from parties with a vested interest in the PRS. Each Peer declared their interests, a great number, unsurprisingly, are landlords.