Marble Falls        It has taken seven years for ACORN and our allies among other tenants’ organizations to win the Renters’ Rights Act in Britain, but there’s an extra sweetness to the victory that the law comes into effect on May Day, the historic day of workers’ solidarity.  This victory is revolutionary for tenants in dealing with their landlords and providing a fairer deal, even if not a totally level field.  After so many actions, rallies, protests, lobbying, and more, it’s a highwater mark in the struggle of tenants for justice in the United Kingdom, where landlords have long held the whip hand.

The elements of the Renters’ Rights Act underline how dramatic the changes will be:

• The Act ends Section 21 evictions which allowed people to be forced out of their homes without rhyme or reason. The Act requires landlords to provide valid, just cause reasons within a prescribed framework.  This also ends landlords being able to retaliate and evict when a tenant raises issues around repairs or conditions in the unit.
• The Act ends “fixed term contracts” which means that a tenant’s lease will not end automatically, but will continue unbroken until the tenant decides to move with a few months’ notice of their own accord, or the landlord has a valid reason to terminate the lease.
• The Act allows more protections around rent increases. Landlords will need to notice increases two months in advance, and tenants will have more avenues to contest the increase, including taking the issue to established tribunals.
• The Act ends bidding wars mandating the landlord publish the asking price and preventing landlords from forcing tenants to compete with each other on pricing to secure a home. Landlords will not be allowed to accept a higher rate and cannot ask for more than one-month of rent in advance.
• The Act bans discrimination based on a prospective tenant having children, receiving public benefits, or working in non-traditional employment.
• The Act allows tenants the right to have pets under reasonable circumstances and accommodations.

These are just the highlights.  The fight is not over.  For example, we are still a long way for the rent controls that would provide more economic protection, but, importantly, in this area, as in so many others, we’ve now built a bridge allowing us to get there.

For ACORN, no victory ever means that the fight is over.  The change in government in Westminster with the Labour Party created the opening for our demands to be met, but now we will need to protect what we have won now and, in the future, as well as continue pushing for what had to be left on the table in this campaign to get the win through Parliament.

The Renters’ Rights Act is a huge, historic victory for tenants and for ACORN, so more than worth a an equally large celebration.