The long-awaited legislation to improve renters’ rights is set to finally be published next week – more than four years after the government pledged to abolish Section 21 evictions.
In 2019, the then prime minister, Theresa May, promised to scrap Section 21 evictions, and later that year Boris Johnson vowed in the Conservative party general election manifesto “a better deal for renters”, including the eviction ban.
Ministers published a rental reform white paper in summer 2022, but with six different housing ministers since 2021, draft legislation has yet to go before parliament for debate.
The secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, Michael Gove, has announced that the draft bill will be published next week and would “change the way the relationship between landlords and tenants works, providing tenants with new protection, which should ensure they are better protected against arbitrary rent increases”.
The announcement has been welcomed by various trade bodies.
Timothy Douglas, head of policy and campaigns at Propertymark, said: “This announcement and the long awaited introduction of legislation from the UK Government to reform the private rented sector in England will help bring much needed clarity for letting agents and their landlords.
“The Legislation is likely to focus on improving standards and the quality of property in the sector so Propertymark will be scrutinising the proposals, pushing for amendments where necessary and championing the role of letting agents to ensure the reforms are workable and fit for purpose.”
Commenting on Twitter, Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, added: “Secretary of State Michael Gove confirms that we will see the long-awaited Renters Reform Bill next week. A fun week ahead beckons!”
Money on nothing to stop tenant ripping landlords off and everything to penalise landlords with penalties, penalties and more penalties. A one sided bill that will result in a mass exit of landlords in PRS in an already devastated industry that will be nuked. The vast majority of landlords are DIY landlords that won’t see its worth the bother to stay. This will have a far reaching impact on everyone working within the industry and not forgetting the tenants will be on the receiving end of no roof’s.
The bill is the responsibility of Westminster but is the agenda of non-elected civil servants who keep this on the table and push detailed agenda. Ministers rubber stamp their recommendations along party lines and this isn’t just a conservative thing. SNP and Labour have already devastated their market in Scotland and Wales going down this route. Will England have learned?
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Whilst definitely a more complicated landscape, there’s very little data to suggest any of the markets are being devastated. There’s even little data to support a mass exodus. The biggest pressure experience by most Landlords is the impact of S24- remove this and most will be happy.
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Next week we find out how much Gove and DLUHC have listened. Over the last 3 months or so, they have quite actively engaged with NRLA (Bravo to Ben Beadle for his incredible work here), TLIC (bravo to Theresa and all others involved here), the Zooploa Lettings Advisory Board (it was great to have them meet with us twice and allow us time to raise our thoughts and concerns). There has been better consultation than in previous legislative changes. The questions are, though, how much will they bow to the pressure of tenant rights groups (often pushing changes that will create a more toxic landscape for them) and how much will they be looking at some of Labour’s more aggressive proposals and they consider the looming GE!?
The fact is, most of the proposals will actually make incremental changes in the market as a whole. Probably the most concerning and likely negative impact will be the substantial increase in court backlogs as they are burdened with more onerous S8 hearings.
The details will be fascinating to see!
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