By Rory Hughes, Programme Manager
Today the first aspects of the Renters’ Rights Act come into force, ending almost four decades of limited private tenant protections in England – underpinned by Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions. In an ever more uncertain world, 11 million private renters will have woken up this morning in their homes with significantly more security.
We at the Nationwide Foundation are proud of the role we played to reach this day. Going right back to 2013, we were one of the founding funders of Generation Rent – which quickly started campaigning on the issue of Section 21. We went on to fund a wide-ranging Tenant Voice Programme, empowering grassroots tenant organisations across the country to shape housing reform locally and nationally.
The key aspects of the Act in England – such as indefinite tenancies were heavily inspired by the post-2017 changes to Scotland’s Private Rented Sector system. To ensure the Renters’ Rights Act learnt lessons from north of the border, we funded “RentBetter”, a frequently cited multi-year study of the post-2017 Scottish PRS system talking to landlords, tenants and housing specialists.
Most significantly, we have funded and been an active member of the Renters’ Reform Coalition for the last six years. In 2024, after four years of being the sole funder, we began joint funding the project with Lloyds Bank Foundation. We knew that only a unified movement could deliver private renting reform and so the Coalition brought together dozens of housing and civil society organisations as members and partners to successfully influence the design of and eventually secure the Renters’ Rights Act.
By working together towards a shared goal, the coalition bridged the gap between organisations with different perspectives; with all members recognising that we are better united. Our coalition-building approach also helped ensure that there was support from many landlords, and from across the party-political spectrum, for the key tenets of the Renters’ Rights Act.
Today is without doubt, a cause for celebration of past work, but also an opportunity to look forward. In many ways, the security and stability – the breathing space – that the Act will lend to renters across the country – will also benefit the renters’ movement.
The sector’s energy and focus has been (rightly) absorbed by the Act for many years, but today we look forward to asking new questions:
- How can we ensure the Renters’ Rights Act is enforced and functions as intended?
- How do we effectively monitor and evaluate its impact in peoples’ homes and lives?
- What are the ‘new horizons’ beyond the Renters’ Rights Act that can improve the lives of renters, landlords and our housing system as a whole?
Through the Foundation’s Private Renting Knowledge Hub, we are working on wider areas of the PRS which impact access, affordability and quality of rented homes. From the future potential role of Build-to-Rent to the impacts of an under-regulated letting agent industry on tenants and landlords alike.
And I want to finish this blog on a personal note. I have been a renter in the PRS for 12 years and have lived in almost as many homes during that time. I have faced rent hikes, eviction notices, disrepair and cold, bidding wars and more. I have shared these stories with family and friends, and they have shared their own with me almost daily because that is the life of many in our ‘generation rent’. The Renters’ Rights Act has the potential to change this.
I have also had the privilege of spending my entire career in the housing movement, dreaming of and labouring toward the enactment of this Act. On my very first day as the housing policy lead at the National Union of Students, I was asked to respond to a suite of government consultations on the abolition of Section 21, and that work never stopped.
I feel proud of the small role I have played to reach this day, but even prouder to have been part of a united housing movement full of inspiring individuals and organisations. Today is a good day, and we at the Nationwide Foundation are looking ahead to see how we can best-play our role in finding, funding and participating in the housing sector’s journey to many more of them in the future.
