URGENT housing reforms soon to become law will “improve the lives of millions of people” and lead to real change for renters struggling to get by in Westminster, the Cities of London and Westminster MP has claimed.

Labour’s Rachel Blake (inset) was speaking at the second reading of the Renters’ Rights Bill in the Commons on Wednesday.

The bill bans “bidding wars”, where landlords advertise flats at certain rents but then take higher offers from the people who come to visit. And it also gives greater protection to pet owners and those threatened by “no-fault evictions”.

Opposition MPs have raised concerns that in strengthening renters’ rights the legislation will lead to a “net reduction in the supply of private rented homes” and an “exodus” of landlords and even more of a squeeze on the few properties available for long-term rent.

Ms Blake said that 45 per cent of households in Westminster were currently renting from private landlords, and added: “But too many of them live in homes riddled with damp and mould, face disproportionate and out-of-the-blue rent hikes, or live in fear of an unexpected eviction.

“Which goes to the heart of the matter, the security of your home should not depend on who owns it. This bill will go some way to changing that.

The “Two Cities” MP said: “But the crisis in private renting is part of a wider housing affordability and supply crisis which has been allowed to run unchecked for too many years.

“So, along with strong support for the measures in this bill, I know that many in the house will join me in support for this government’s mission to build 1.5million new homes this parliament. I am proud of this government’s ambition on housing, and our collective determination to deliver the change this country voted for in July. Change that is now beginning.”

The bill includes a commitment to ending section 21 “no-fault” evictions and paves the way for rent increases to be challenged through tribunals.

The housing secretary and deputy prime minister Angela Rayner has said she is determined to get it into law “as soon as possible”.

Ms Blake said: “I warmly welcome this legislation, which will improve the lives of millions of people.”

And she spoke about a culture of fear and a “imbalance of power” with tenants fearing repercussions if they make a complaint to landlord.

A beefed up housing ombudsman service would “compel landlords to issue an apology, provide information, take remedial action, and pay compensation”, she said.

The bill was welcome by Poplar and Limehouse independent MP Apsana Begum, formerly of the Labour Party, who suggested rent controls would be a more effective way of stopping evictions. She said: “All too often a 20 per cent rent hike is simply a no-fault eviction under a different name. The availability of housing that people can actually afford is key.

“It is not just that affordable homes are in short supply; they are also, in fact, not affordable.”

Conservative MP David Simmonds, from Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner, said “most landlords are good landlords”, and added: “While all members will see in our constituency casework dozens of examples of people in great difficulty as a result of problems in the private rented sector, on the whole this sector remains one that those who use it find to be valuable and a source of appropriate and affordable housing.

“In Scotland, where similar regulations have been implemented, there has been an exodus from the market of smaller private landlords in particular, and those properties have fallen into other kinds of tenure.”

He said: “Dare I say that the acid test will be future housing surveys?

“If the high satisfaction rates remain buoyant, perhaps the legislation has been right.

“If we fail to get it right, private tenants will be considerably less satisfied, and that will require the house’s attention again.”