Liz Truss is reportedly due to shelve Conservative party plans to end no-fault evictions despite it being a manifesto commitment.
The new Tory leader is reportedly set to break the party’s promise, tearing up legislation prepared by the former Levelling Up Secretary, Michael Gove.
The 2019 Conservative manifesto promised to abolish no-fault evictions, where a landlord can end a tenancy without giving a reason but they are reportedly no longer considered a priority.
The move would be the latest sign that Liz Truss wants to try and push on with her own policy despite a treacherous first few months as Prime Minister.
After her and her chancellor’s mini-budget back-fired so badly the Bank of England had to step in and take action, Truss found herself on rocky ground.
Her own ministers went on to freelance away from the cabinet-line during the Tory's conference in Birmingham as well.
As well as exposing renters to evictions, the new plans, reported first by The Times, would also see some developers exempted from having to build affordable homes.
Critics hit out at the Tory plans to drastically reform housing regulations.
Labour ’s shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy tweeted on Monday: “They crashed the economy. It led to soaring mortgage rates, rents, energy bills and food prices. Their answer is less affordable housing.”
Matthew Pennycook, the party’s shadow housing minister, accused the Prime Minister of “betraying” private renters.
The Times reports that the new Levelling Up Secretary Simon Clarke, a close ally of Ms Truss, has written to the Prime Minister with a set of proposals intended to boost house-building and economic growth.
The paper said that a key measure of such a set of proposals would be a rise in the threshold at which affordable homes are required to be built in housing developments.
It would see a rise from requiring affordable homes for developments with ten houses, to those with 40 or even 50 homes.
This could reportedly reduce the number of affordable homes built by around one fifth.
“The Government is committed to exploring policies that build the homes people need, deliver new jobs, support economic development and boost local economies,” a Government spokesperson said.
Matt Downie, Crisis Chief Executive, said: “We’re within touching distance of a genuinely transformative opportunity to finally shift the power balance and give renters a much-needed layer of protection from losing their home. To scale back on preventing the leading cause of homelessness now would be disastrous.
“To pull the plug on what should have already been brought into law years ago is shameful. The Government must realise that this is an epidemic that requires urgent attention. They must end no-fault evictions as soon as possible – or we’ll see thousands more people pushed into homelessness this winter.”
