Boris Johnson has been accused of betraying private renters after shelving Theresa May’s promise to end the misery of ‘no-fault evictions’.

The absence of a housing bill from the Queen’s Speech has cast doubt on a raft of measures pledged by the last prime minister – also including help for leaseholders and a regulator to enforce new homes of a higher standard.

Most importantly, Ms May had promised the biggest overhaul for renters in a generation, to prevent private landlords evicting tenants with as little as eight weeks’ notice and without good reason.

“Millions of responsible tenants could still be uprooted by their landlord with little notice, and often little justification,” she said in April, shortly before leaving No 10, adding: “This is wrong.”

But Mr Johnson has said nothing about the issue since succeeding her and the crackdown was fiercely opposed by landlords – before being left out of a Queen’s Speech with no fewer than 26 bills.

“Eleven million renters will be bitterly disappointed if the government fails to keep its promise to end ‘no fault’ evictions,” said Polly Neate, chief executive of the campaign group Shelter.

“It’s frustrating to see the housing emergency missing from the government’s agenda in the face of the current crisis. With more than 300,000 people homeless and millions fighting for a stable home, this is not something it can ignore.”

And John Healey, Labour’s shadow housing secretary, said: “Renters have been let down again by the Conservatives.

“The truth is Tory ministers can’t fix the housing crisis because they won’t take on the vested interests who profit from the status quo.”

UK Housing Crisis: in pictures Show all 8 1 /8 UK Housing Crisis: in pictures UK Housing Crisis: in pictures Members of ‘generation rent’, as the younger generation is often known, are finding it far more difficult to get on the housing market than previous generations PA UK Housing Crisis: in pictures Then chancellor George Osborne visits a Help to Buy housing development in Lewisham in 2014. Osborne had announced the Help to Buy scheme in the 2013 budget as a means of helping first-time buyers on to the housing market PA Archive/PA Images UK Housing Crisis: in pictures In February 2017, then communities and local government secretary Sajid Javid issued a government white paper on housing. Introducing it in the Commons, he stated ‘our housing market is broken’ and that ‘the idea of owning or renting a safe, secure place of your own is, for many, a distant dream’ PA UK Housing Crisis: in pictures Residents of Fitzroy Road in Primrose Hill have demonstrated how urban areas might be built up without using extra land. 12 homeowners along the street all agreed to extend their house upwards by 1 floor. The government recently held a consultation on the revised National Planning Policy Framework, which, if approved, will support building above homes, shops and offices Google Earth UK Housing Crisis: in pictures Social Bite, a charity in Scotland, is creating a small housing community for the homeless. Up to 20 people will be housed for 12-18 months, with the charity’s focus being on transitioning the residents into permanent housing and employment AFP/Getty UK Housing Crisis: in pictures A homeless man was found dead yards from Parliament in February. His death was taken by many, including Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, to be symbolic of the government’s poor record on housing. PA UK Housing Crisis: in pictures Emergency homeless shelters in London had to be opened numerous times throughout the past winter to house those unable to find a room in an ordinary shelter or hostel Getty UK Housing Crisis: in pictures Carillion, the UK’s second largest construction company, entered liquidation early this year. It held numerous government construction and maintenance contracts, for many of which the future is still uncertain AFP/Getty

Asked to respond, the ministry of housing, communities and local government was unable to say the measure would ever go ahead.

Instead, a spokesperson said: “We remain committed to delivering a package of tenancy reforms which balances greater security for tenants whilst ensuring landlords have the tools they need to operate with confidence.

“We are carefully considering the responses received to our recent public consultation on this issue, which closed on 12 October, and will publish our response and next steps in due course.”

The group Generation Rent also criticised the threat to abolishing Section 21 of the 1988 Housing Act, after 57,000 people backed its ‘End Unfair Evictions’ campaign.

Dan Wilson, its director, said: “The Queen’s Speech contained nothing to make renting more tolerable for England’s private renters, who right now can lose their home with no reason and only two months’ notice.

“Renters are growing older and starting families with no prospect of escaping into home ownership or council housing, and are voting in greater numbers. Dropping tenancy reform now would be a costly mistake for the government.”

The change would still leave landlords able to use the Section 8 procedure, but only to evict a tenant in rent arrears, involved in criminal or antisocial behaviour or who has a rent agreement, perhaps by damaging the property.

However, crucially, unlike with the use of Section 21, tenants can challenge Section 8 evictions in court.