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Law on Trial 2025: The Renters' Rights Bill and Beyond - The Future of Housing Justice

When: —
Venue: Birkbeck Clore Management Centre

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Housing justice has never been more on the ropes. The 'housing crisis’ seems endemic to British society, and with the decimation of social housing, spiralling mortgage debt, and unaffordable house-prices, more households than ever depend on the private rented sector. They face out-of-control rents, bidding wars, unsafe accommodation, rogue landlords, and no stability or security. Homelessness from 'no-fault eviction' is at an all-time high, and, under the banner of 'regeneration', the displacement of residents by councils desperate for revenue continues, driving gentrification on a mass scale.


As the Grenfell Tower Fire and the death of Awaab Ishak have highlighted, housing injustice disproportionately harms the most vulnerable in our society – including the poorest, the young and the old, migrants, people of colour, women, those with disabilities, and anyone not already insulated by property and wealth. Meanwhile, the housing crisis draws more and more people into its orbit.


Labour's Renters’ Rights Bill promises to tackle the problem by resetting the private rental sector - rebalancing landlord and tenant rights, abolishing no-fault evictions, bolstering freedoms of tenants, and extending protections in social housing to the private sector. Will these measures be effective? Do they go far enough? And can the Bill touch the deeper causes of the housing crisis?

Contact name: Craig Reeves

Speakers
  • Dr Craig Reeves —

     

    Craig Reeves is Senior Lecturer at Birkbeck Law School where he teaches, among others, a module on Housing, Justice and the Law. He is a leading scholar in applied critical theory and has published widely in philosophy, law, and business journals. He is Principal Investigator on the ISRF-funded research project 'Needs, Anxiety and Solidarity: Psychoanalysis and Markets'.

  • Juliet Galea-Glennie —

     

    Juliet Galea-Glennie works at Public Interest Law Centre where they specialise in homelessness, disrepair, and social housing cases. They worked on the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2, and are currently working on the Covid-19 Inquiry, representing Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain and Southall Black Sisters, among others. They have previously been involved with legal support groups including Hackney Community Law Centre, Prisoners’ Advice Service and Hackney Migrant Centre.

  • Larry Lock —

     

    Larry Lock worked on the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, representing survivors and bereaved families of the fire, and is the author of numerous articles on the leading legal blog Free Movement. He recently completed a training contract with Bhatt Murphy Solicitors, where he specialises in migrant rights, asylum detention and deportation, and deaths in custody inquests. Prior to this he was the Legal Manager of the Prisons Project at Bail for Immigration Detainees.

  • Nick Bano —

     

    Nick Bano is a barrister at Garden Court Chambers specialising in housing law, and the author of Against Landlords: How to Solve the Housing Crisis (London: Verso, 2024). The legal directories consistently recognise his expertise, inventiveness and commitment in this field, and he has acted in many of the most important housing law cases in recent years, including TM v Metropolitan, Forward v Aldwyck and London & Quadrant v Patrick (on the Public Sector Equality Duty in housing possession claims) and Adesotu v Lewisham (on discrimination against homelessness applicants). He was shortlisted for the Davidson Prize 2024 and was a finalist for the Legal Aid Barrister of the Year Award 2024.

  • Nick Charity —

     

    Nick Charity is a documentary filmmaker, journalist, and activist with Haringey Save the Warehouses.

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