News
50 Tory MPs may vote against or abstain on Reform Bill - claim
Thursday 11th May 2023
An unnamed Conservative MP cited in a newspaper claims up to 30 colleagues may vote against the Renters Reform Bill in its current form, with 20 others abstaining.
The i newspaper, which is published only online, has a story today headlined: "Inside the rebellion over Renters Reform Bill led by Tory landlords".
The piece is short on certainties and high on speculation: it says "those considering voting against the Government are believed to include high profile Tories such as Jacob Rees Mogg" and adds that "Kevin Hollinrake, the former chairman of national estate agency chain Hunters, is also thought to be a potential rebel." It names no other MPs at all.
However, it quotes one anonymous Tory backbencher - described as 'prominent' - who says: "At the moment we have a government that's adopting all Jeremy Corbyn housing policies except we're not building any more homes.
"Why should landlords be forced to accept that market forces don't apply to them when we're not committed to building more homes to ease prices. It's not the fault of landlords that the price of renting is going up. It's the fault of not enough homes being available to either buy or rent.
"Costs of being a landlord are much higher now, so why shouldn't landlords be able to charge more and rent their properties to people at the market rate to cover their increased costs?"