Will Tory failure to help renters cost them even more votes?

Michael Gove has watered down the Renters (Reform) Bill. John Rentoul examines the electoral implications

Housing secretary Michael Gove’s bill will outlaw ‘no-fault’ evictions only for new tenancies (Thomas Krych/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock)

The Renters (Reform) Bill is becoming a landlords’ charter, according to campaigners for the rights of tenants in the private rented sector. Michael Gove, the housing secretary, has written to Conservative MPs announcing changes to the bill to “bolster landlord protections” in the hope that these will overcome the resistance to the planned law.

The revised bill started its parliamentary passage in the House of Lords this week and will come before the Commons after the Easter recess.

The bill had been delayed by the threat from a group of pro-landlord Tory MPs to vote against it. They argued that the abolition of “no-fault” evictions would tilt the balance too much in favour of tenants and make private renting uneconomic for landlords, forcing them to sell.