Top Tories, corporate landlords and some lettings agent representatives have held talks on how to thwart the Renters Rights Bill , a newspaper claims.
The Guardian says Jane Scott, the shadow housing minister, recently hosted a roundtable meeting discussing ways to delay or stop the Bill.
Ideas included challenging it in the courts and delaying it with repeated rounds of Lords amendments.
Scott’s meeting with landlords and agents reportedly included representatives from the property group Get Living, Dexters agentcy and the National Residential Landlord Association, among others.
Build To Rent firm Get Living allegedly told the meeting it had instructed a senior barrister to examine bringing a legal challenge to the Bill on human rights grounds.
A spokesperson for Get Living told The Guardian the company wanted the bill to succeed but added: “There is a group in the professionally managed rental sector that significantly contributes to new housing stock that are concerned about the legal issues the government faces if the Bill proceeds in its current format.”
A Conservative party spokesperson told the paper: “The Conservatives have been warning that this Bill is deeply flawed, as it will lead to a reduced supply of rental homes … As is standard practice with all legislation, the official opposition engages privately with a range of stakeholders to hear their views.”
The Scottish Association of Landlords launched a legal challenge against the Scottish Government’s temporary rent cap, arguing it violated the right to property as enshrined in the European convention on human rights.
That challenge failed.
This article is taken from Landlord Today