Landlords warn they could increase rents in response to Labour’s renters’ rights bill

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Landlords have warned they may raise rents as a result of Labour’s Renters’ Rights Bill, which is aimed at giving tenants more power when renting. open image in gallery Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said renters have been let down for ‘too long’ Chris Norris, policy director for the NRLA told the Guardian: “The new model could lead to Airbnb lite. “If you need a place for two months you could go to a private rented sector landlord, and then immediately serve notice.” But renters dismissed this possibility, with Dan Wilson Craw, deputy chief executive of the Generation Rent campaign group, saying: “If you want a short-term let, it’s always going to be more straightforward to go through a platform like Airbnb, so these warnings are completely implausible.” The Renters’ Rights Bill will ensure greater security for renters by creating a “level playing field between tenants and landlords”, the government said. “The abolition of Section 21 evictions is long overdue and requiring landlords to provide a valid reason for eviction will give tenants more confidence to challenge disrepair and poor treatment by landlords and letting agents.” He said ministers were also right to “take a stand on the egregious practice of bidding wars” in the coming Bill but warned measures it has proposed “risk being ineffective at countering the problem”.