BBC News reports a group of 30 charities and non-profit companies have urged the Prime Minister to pass the bill to ban no fault evictions. Charities have said they are concerned delays will risk causing “more avoidable hardship and suffering” and a “greater cost to the taxpayer”.
However, the Government has said that the Bill will resume progress shortly in Parliament and will get its 2nd reading on Monday 23 October 2023.
The much-awaited Renters Reform Bill, was first promised in 2019, however, it was introduced into Parliament on 17 May 2023. It makes a number of proposed amends to the relationship between landlords and tenants.
What is the aim of the rental sector reforms?
The principal aim of the Bill is to provide a fairer private sector for both landlords and tenants. For example, currently, if a tenant wishes to vacate at the end of the fixed term, or if the tenancy has reverted to a periodic tenancy, a tenant only has to give one month’s notice to the landlord. However, under the rental sector reforms, tenants will have to give the landlord two months’ notice.
It is also hoped that the Bill will help to tackle repeated rent arrears or anti-social behaviour among tenants. As well as this, it will end blanket bans on benefit claimants, or families with children, and will see landlords having to consider requests to allow pets.
A new Ombudsman for private rented landlords will also be put in place, to ensure disputes can be easily resolved without having to take matters through the Courts.
12-point plan of action
Although the Government’s actions over the years have always tried to drive improvements, they admit more can be done.
In the White Paper, the Government stated that they are committed to providing thorough changes to the Private Rented Sector and to meet the needs of both tenants and landlords. The White Paper also includes a 12-point plan of action:
1. “We will deliver on our levelling up housing mission to halve the number of non-decent rented homes by 2030 and require privately rented homes to meet the Decent Homes Standard for the first time. This will give renters safer, better-value homes and remove the blight of poor-quality homes in local communities.
2. We will accelerate quality improvements in the areas that need it most. We will run pilot schemes with a selection of local councils to explore different ways of enforcing standards and work with landlords to speed up the adoption of the Decent Homes Standard.
3. We will deliver our manifesto commitment to abolish Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions and deliver a simpler, more secure tenancy structure. A tenancy will only end if the tenant ends it or if the landlord has a valid ground for possession, empowering tenants to challenge poor practice and reducing costs associated with unexpected moves.
4. We will reform grounds for possession to make sure that landlords have effective means to gain possession of their properties when necessary. We will expedite landlords’ ability to evict those who disrupt neighbourhoods through antisocial behaviour and introduce new grounds for persistent arrears and sale of the property.
5. We will only allow increases to rent once per year, end the use of rent review clauses, and improve tenants’ ability to challenge excessive rent increases through the First Tier Tribunal to support people to manage their costs and to remain in their homes.
6. We will strengthen tenants’ ability to hold their landlord to account and introduce a new single Ombudsman that all private landlords must join. This will provide fair, impartial, and binding resolution to many issues and be quicker, cheaper, and less adversarial than the court system. Alongside this, we will consider how we can bolster and expand existing rent repayment orders and enable tenants to be repaid rent for non-decent homes.
7. We will work with the Ministry of Justice and HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) to target the areas where there are unacceptable delays in court proceedings. We will also strengthen mediation and alternative dispute resolution to enable landlords and tenants to work together to reduce the risk of issues escalating.
8. We will introduce a new Property Portal to make sure that tenants, landlords and local councils have the information they need. The portal will provide a single ‘front door’ for landlords to understand their responsibilities, tenants will be able to access information about their landlord’s compliance, and local councils will have access to better data to crack down on criminal landlords. Subject to consultation with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), we also intend to incorporate some of the functionality of the Database of Rogue Landlords, mandating the entry of all eligible landlord offences and making them publicly visible.
9. We will strengthen local councils’ enforcement powers and ability to crack down on criminal landlords by seeking to increase investigative powers and strengthening the fine regime for serious offences. We are also exploring a requirement for local councils to report on their housing enforcement activity and want to recognise those local councils that are doing a good job.
10. We will legislate to make it illegal for landlords or agents to have blanket bans on renting to families with children or those in receipt of benefits and explore if similar action is needed for other vulnerable groups, such as prison leavers. We will improve support to landlords who let to people on benefits, which will reduce barriers for those on the lowest incomes.
11. We will give tenants the right to request a pet in their property, which the landlord must consider and cannot unreasonably refuse. We will also amend the Tenant Fees Act 2019 so that landlords can request that their tenants buy pet insurance.
12. We will work with industry experts to monitor the development of innovative market-led solutions to passport deposits. This will help tenants who struggle to raise a second deposit to move around the PRS more easily and support tenants to save for ownership.”
Are there any downsides?
As noted in the 12-point plan of action, the Bill will allow landlords to increase rent once a year if the tenants are given two months’ notice of the increase, which will abolish the rent review clauses. Landlords will also be limited on the amount of rent they can ask for in advance and the notice period in relation to rent arrears, which equate to two months or more, will increase from two to four weeks.
How can we help
Paula Haverkamp is an Associate and Litigation Executive in our Dispute Resolution team, specialising in landlord and tenant matters and property disputes.
For further information in relation to the subjects discussed in this article, please contact Paula or another member of our team in Derby, Leicester, or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online form.
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