Tory MPs blamed for delaying Renters Reform Bill...

The Financial Times, using sources in the Parliamentary Conservative party, are blaming some Tory MPs for blocking the route of the Renters Reform Bill.

The Bill as introduced into the Commons in the spring and many expected its Second Reading would have been held by now; however, it will be at least after the party conference season before this now happens, and it may possibly fall further behind if it awaits the Kings Speech on November 7.

“There are a number of landlords in the whips office who are amplifying the level of concern among Tory MPs and holding things up” one Whitehall official told the FT, speaking on terms of anonymity. Several Tory whips are known to be landlords.

However, the whips office told the newspaper: “This is an absurd suggestion. If the whip’s office has flagged concerns, it is reflecting the concerns of the wider parliamentary party.”

A government party source told the newspaper: “There have been concerns about the bill since Day One. Until [Housing Secretary Michael Gove] and his team engage backbenchers on what the proposals really mean, it won’t be on the order paper.”

An official government spokesperson told the FT: “The government remains absolutely committed to delivering a fairer private rented sector for tenants and landlords through the Renters Reform Bill. The bill which delivers our manifesto commitment is progressing through parliament and second reading will follow shortly."

The Mirror newspaper went further yesterday, naming five MPs blocking the bill - Steve Double, Simon Hart, Jo Churchill, Ruth Edwards and Julie Marson - although the paper does not explain how it knows of the five.

Some 20 per cent of Conservative MPs are landlords, according to research by campaign group 38 Degrees this year while 87 MPs of all parties declared income of over £10,000 each in rental earnings in the last year.

Over the weekend Generation Rent chief executive Ben Twomey - who was a former Labour candidate in elections - tweeted that there was a “suggestion” that Tory landlord MPs were behind the delay, and he retweeted a Labour social media message from shadow housing minister Matthew Pennycook, criticising the government on the delay.