The government has been accused of “abandoning” its pledge to ban no fault evictions by the time of the next general election.
Housing minister Jacob Young sent a letter to Conservative MPs dated 27 March which said the power under Section 21 of the Housing Act would remain in place until an assessment had been made of the legal system to see if it could handle the changes.
A Section 21 order allows landlords to evict tenants without providing a reason for doing so.
Politics latest: Starmer asked if he’s a ‘Tory in disguise’
The Conservative 2019 manifesto pledged to abolish the mechanism, and was planning to do so through the Renters Reform Bill.
There had already been indications the government intended to water down its promise from Housing Secretary Michael Gove, but this development marks the confirmation that legislation will be changed.
But the letter sent by Mr Young said: “The government has been clear that Section 21 will be abolished when the courts are ready, and is taking significant steps to deliver court improvement, including providing £1.2m for court digitisation.
“We will now, however, bring forward an amendment at Commons report [stage] to require the lord chancellor to publish an assessment on barriers to possession and the readiness of the courts in advance of abolishing Section 21 for existing tenancies.”
The campaign group, Renters Reform Coalition, said the changes announced this week represent “major concessions to landlords” – and said Mr Gove was “abandoning the promise” made to end Section 21s by the next election.
Jacob Young MP. Pic: Parliament
Mr Young also wrote that a new amendment would be proposed which would prevent tenants ending contracts in the first six months – although government is “considering exemptions” – like death or domestic abuse.
He said this “will ensure landlords can rely on a letting period that covers costs of finding tenants and making repairs between tenancies, and prevents tenants using rented properties as short-term lets”.
Read more:
Ban on no-fault evictions facing delays
Gove attacked by Labour, Tories and Johnson allies over leasehold U-turns
Changes have also been proposed to allow landlords renting to students to ensure they can match tenancy to the academic year.
Tom Darling, Campaign Manager at the Renters’ Reform Coalition, commented: “So now we see the price the government has paid in their Faustian bargain with the landlord lobby.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
“Selling renters down the river with concessions that will put off the vast majority of renters from feeling the benefits of these reforms indefinitely, promising to reduce the burdens on landlords to meet licensing standards, and locking tenants in unsafe and unsuitable housing.
“The government’s flagship legislation to help renters is fast becoming a Landlord’s Charter – watch as landlord groups today declare victory now having exacted a significant toll on this policy in exchange for their support.”
Ben Beadle, the chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, said: “The government has a mandate to end Section 21 repossessions. Our focus has been on ensuring that the replacement system works, and is fair, to both tenants and responsible landlords.
“The changes being proposed would achieve this balance.
“Ministers now need to crack on to ensure the bill can proceed with the scrutiny it deserves.”
Click to subscribe to Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts
Matthew Pennycook, Labour’s shadow housing minister, said: “Rishi Sunak and Michael Gove have chosen once again to put the interests of party management ahead of what is right for the British people.
“After years of delay, private renters have every right to be furious at the watering down of the vital protections the Tories promised them.”
Sky News has approached the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities for comment.
A Nigerian court has reportedly delayed the country’s tax evasion case against Binance until April 30 to give time for Nigeria’s tax authority to respond to a request from the crypto exchange.
Reuters reported on April 7 that a lawyer for Binance, Chukwuka Ikwuazom, asked a court the same day to invalidate an order allowing for court documents to be served to the company via email.
Binance doesn’t have an office in Nigeria and Ikwuazom claimed the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) didn’t get court permission to serve court documents to Binance outside the country.
“On the whole the order for the substituted service as granted by the court on February 11, 2025 on Binance who is … registered under the laws of Cayman Islands and resident in Cayman Islands is improper and should be set aside,” he said.
FIRS sued Binance in February, claiming the exchange owed $2 billion in back taxes and should be made to pay $79.5 billion for damages to the local economy as its its operations allegedly destabilized the country’s currency, the naira, which Binance denies.
It also reportedly alleged that Binance is liable to pay corporate income tax in Nigeria, as it has a “significant economic presence” there, with FIRS requesting a court order for the exchange to pay income taxes for 2022 and 2023, plus a 10% annual penalty on unpaid amounts along with a nearly a 27% interest rate on the unpaid taxes.
Nigeria’s legal history with Binance
In February 2024, Nigeria arrested and detained Binance executives Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla on tax fraud and money laundering charges. The country dropped the tax charges against both in June and the remaining charge against Gambaryan in October.
Tigran Gambaryan (right) was seen in a September video struggling to walk into a courtroom in the Nigerian capital of Abuja. Source: X
Anjarwalla managed to slip his guards and escape Nigerian custody to Kenya in March last year and is apparently still at large.
Related: Binance exec shares details about release from Nigerian detention
Gambaryan, a US citizen, returned home in October after reports suggested his health had deteriorated during his detainment with reported cases of pneumonia, malaria and a herniated spinal disc that may need surgery.
Binance stopped its naira currency deposits and withdrawals in March 2024, effectively leaving the Nigerian market.
Magazine: Trash collectors in Africa earn crypto to support families with ReFi
Listen to Politics at Sam and Anne’s on your podcast app
It’s the final episode before recess so Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy wonder, given the turbulent times, who’ll be the first to call for Parliament to be recalled?
And talking of the Lib Dems, there’s some new polling which might put a spring into the step of Ed Davey – is his party’s position on Trump and trade doing them some favours?
Of course, there’s plenty of time to talk about the onslaught of US tariffs and implications for the UK – watch out for if the PM is asked about fiscal headroom when he appears before the Liaison Committee of senior MPs later.
Sam and Anne also ponder the PM’s response to Sam at a Q&A yesterday.
Asset manager Teucrium Investment Advisors is set to launch the first XRP-based exchange-traded fund in the US markets, a leveraged XRP (ETF) on the NYSE Arca.
The Teucrium 2x Long Daily XRP ETF will seek to offer investors two times the daily return of the XRP (XRP) token with a 1.85% management fee and annual expense ratio, according to the company’s website. The XRP-based ETF will trade under the XXRP ticker beginning April 8.
“If you have a short-term high-conviction view on XRP prices, you may consider exploring the Teucrium 2x Long Daily XRP ETF,” the alternative asset manager said.
XXRP currently has $2 million worth of net assets.
Details of Teucrium’s soon-to-be-launched XXRP ETF. Source: Teucrium
Teucrium founder and CEO Sal Gilbertie told Bloomberg on April 7 that investors had shown strong interest in an XRP ETF and hinted that it may file to list more crypto ETFs in the future.
Gilbertie was also pleased that XXRP would launch during a market downturn driven largely by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
“What better time to launch a product than when prices are low?” Gilbertie told Bloomberg.
Likelihood of an approved spot XRP ETF still high: Analyst
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said it was “very odd” to see a new asset’s first ETF come in leveraged form — however, he added that the odds of a spot XRP ETF being approved remain “pretty high.”
Source: Eric Balchunas
Several spot XRP ETF applications from the likes of Grayscale, Bitwise, Franklin Templeton, Canary Capital and 21Shares are being reviewed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In February, Balchunas and fellow Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart attributed 65% approval odds to a spot XRP ETF in 2025.
Predictions market Polymarket states there is currently a 75% chance that the SEC will approve a spot XRP ETF in 2025.
Related: XRP price sell-off set to accelerate in April as inverse cup and handle hints at 25% decline
Up until recently, ETF issuers would have seen a different environment for filing for XRP ETFs as Ripple Labs — the creators of the XRP token — and the SEC battled out a four-year court battle over XRP’s security status.
That case came to a close last month.
Teucrium has amassed over $310 million worth of assets under management since it was founded in 2010.
It offers mostly agricultural commodities, such as ETFs tracking the likes of corn, soybeans, sugar and wheat.
Magazine: XRP win leaves Ripple and industry with no crypto legal precedent set
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway