The National Residential Landlords Association says it’s looking increasingly unlikely the Renters Rights Bill will receive Royal Assent before the summer recess.

The Report Stage in the House of Lords begins next week with three separate sittings from July 1 to July 15. It would then have only seven days to go back to the Commons for ratification before MPs begin their summer recess.

Waiting for the resumption of business in the Commons in early September would mean Labour could boast of it becoming law at its annual conference later that month.

The NRLA says: “Should Royal Assent be delayed until after the recess it will happen in September at the earliest. The government has remained tightlipped as to when the  commencement date (the point at which the new rules would come into force) will be, however this is generally no earlier than two months after Royal Assent.

“On this basis commencment would be November at the earliest – although it could conceivably be the new year. While no announcement has been made on commencement, Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook has gone on record to say the new tenancy system will be introduced all at once.”

Pennycook has said this, however: “Upon the commencement date, the new tenancy system will apply to all private tenancies – existing tenancies will become periodic, and any new tenancies will be governed by the new rules.”

The NRLA says that while tenancies may transfer immediately, some of the changes being introduced under the Bill, for example the new Decent Homes Standard and the new landlord database, will require secondary legislation.

“We are now lobbying for minimum of six months between secondary legislation and implementation, allowing landlords time to adjust and put new systems in place” adds the NRLA..

The Report Stage – beginning in the Lords next Tuesday – presents Peers with one of the final opportunities to propose and debate changes to the legislation before it heads toward final approval.