Levelling Up White Paper – S21 abolished – Landlord register – Decent homes standard

Levelling Up White Paper – S21 abolished – Landlord register – Decent homes standard

7:59 AM, 2nd February 2022, About 2 years ago 78

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Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions will further be abolished, ending the unfair situation where renters can be kicked out of their homes for no reason.

We will consult on introducing a landlords register, and will set out plans for a crackdown on rogue landlords – making sure fines and bans stop repeat offenders leaving renters in terrible conditions.

The government will announce a plan that for the first time ever, all homes in the Private Rented Sector will have to meet a minimum standard – the Decent Homes Standard.

The above are the key plans that affect landlords directly in the government’s flagship Levelling Up White Paper being promoted today by Secretary of State Michael Gove. Click here to read the full press release.

The government aim is that by 2030, renters will have a secure path to ownership with the number of first-time buyers increasing in all areas; and the government’s ambition is for the number of non-decent rented homes to have fallen by 50%, with the biggest improvements in the lowest performing areas.

Other plans for the housing market include:

The government will support 20 of our towns and city centres, starting off with Wolverhampton and Sheffield, undertaking ambitious, King’s Cross-style regeneration projects, transforming derelict urban sites into beautiful communities. This work will be spearheaded by Homes England, which will be repurposed to, in addition to its existing functions, regenerate towns and cities.

The ‘80/20 rule’ which leads to 80% of government funding for housing supply being directed at ‘maximum affordability areas’ – in practice, London and the South East – will be scrapped, with much of the £1.8 billion brownfield funding instead being diverted to transforming brownfield sites in the North and Midlands. The Metro Mayors will be allocated £120 million of this funding.

Home ownership will be boosted due to a new £1.5 billion Levelling Up Home Building Fund being launched, which will provide loans to SMEs and support the UK government’s wider regeneration agenda in areas that are a priority for levelling up.

The government will further commit to building more genuinely affordable social housing. A new Social Housing Regulation Bill will deliver upon the commitments the government made following the Grenfell tragedy in 2017.

The government will give local authorities the power to require landlords of empty shops to fill them if they have been left vacant for too long.

Michael Gove said: “The United Kingdom is an unparalleled success story. We have one of the world’s biggest and most dynamic economies. Ours is the world’s most spoken language. We have produced more Nobel Prize winners than any country other than America.

“But not everyone shares equally in the UK’s success. For decades, too many communities have been overlooked and undervalued. As some areas have flourished, others have been left in a cycle of decline. The UK has been like a jet firing on only one engine.

“Levelling Up and this White Paper is about ending this historic injustice and calling time on the postcode lottery.

“This will not be an easy task, and it won’t happen overnight, but our 12 new national levelling up missions will drive real change in towns and cities across the UK, so that where you live will no longer determine how far you can go.”

Party Minister Boris Johnson said: “From day one, the defining mission of this government has been to level up this country, to break the link between geography and destiny so that no matter where you live you have access to the same opportunities.

“The challenges we face have been embedded over generations and cannot be dug out overnight, but this White Paper is the next crucial step.

“It is a vision for the future that will see public spending on R&D increased in every part of the country; transport connectivity improving; faster broadband in every community; life expectancies rising; violent crime falling; schools improving; and private sector investment being unleashed.

“It is the most comprehensive, ambitious plan of its kind that this country has ever seen and it will ensure that the government continues to rise to the challenge and deliver for the people of the UK.”


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Comments

Chris Bradley

8:15 AM, 2nd February 2022, About 2 years ago

Looks like a date for all my private rented homes to be sold by, I have two properties in England and 2 in Wales. At least in Wales s21 will still exist but with 6mth notice and cannot be served in first 6mths so effectively a 12mth tenancy. The thought of not being able to get my property back in order to sell for my retirement because you can't ask the tenants to move on. Looks like I need to reviewy plans. After 5years in tenancy I have asked my tenants if they want to buy the property but all have refused the offer.

Reluctant Landlord

8:45 AM, 2nd February 2022, About 2 years ago

So S21 banned by 2030 - is that what is planned then? Lots of waffle but where is the actual date detail?

g gorton

8:48 AM, 2nd February 2022, About 2 years ago

End of buy-to-let? Not quite but in future to protect against void periods etc. landlords may consider offering serviced accommodation or holiday lets instead. This takes the property rental into different legal frameworks. With the loss of control over a rental, the financial risk is greater and as a result it is likely that the larger corporate landlords (e.g. Insurance companies, banks etc.) will dominate traditional buy-to-let in future, The financial risk for smaller landlords will be too great.

Yannick LM

8:54 AM, 2nd February 2022, About 2 years ago

I really like the hypocrisy of the government.
They are looking at creating a rogue landlord register, but there is no mention of creating a rogue tenant register.
Again, there is a requirement for minimum standard for the tenant to rent but nothing about how tenant do not care and look after the property they rent. My property is always in a terrible state when the tenant leaves the property. It was always their choice to leave and not mine to get them out. Section 21 to be abolished is an excuse to look good towards the public. On average my tenants stayed for 2 years.
So much for levelling up! There is nothing levelling with these change of regulations.

Sam Smith

9:04 AM, 2nd February 2022, About 2 years ago

Where to start with this.

Will tenants be held responsible for trashing properties?

Most of our properties are already under local licensing where they have their own standards and where we are forced to pay a fee for the privilege, will this scheme be now scrapped?

Local licensing also has its own register of landlords.

I assume section 8 will be overhauled for problem tenants, selling etc?

Along with new C EPC which costs a bomb, why bother investing in property?

Finally, what is the point in voting Conservative?

Ian Clapham

9:23 AM, 2nd February 2022, About 2 years ago

When our politicians move to the Left truth goes out of the window.
“Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions will further be abolished, ending the unfair situation where renters can be kicked out of their homes for no reason”. This translates as “The State will overrule the freedom of adults to make agreements between each other on their own fair terms.”

Identity politics shows its ugly face again and, under pressure from the Progressive media, the Conservative Party as usual give in. Tenants good, landlords bad.

In my experience tenancies almost always end at the tenant’s decision. The landlord, however, has the greatest financial commitment in the provision of rented housing and has more responsibility. He should not have his hands tied behind his back. In shared accommodation tenants need to be accountable to the landlord as the referee, protecting other tenants from bad behaviour from a housemate.

I have to go back 50 tenancies to the last time I asked a tenant to leave. The female housemates complained to me that they felt insecure with a tenant who was bringing random women back home for drunken one-night stands. When I confronted him, he co-operated and voluntarily left. Under Gove’s authoritarian Big State plan of removing landlords’ rights over their own properties, it might be the girls who would have to leave, rather than the anti-social tenant.

Jane Tomlin

9:51 AM, 2nd February 2022, About 2 years ago

Is 2030 the actual date though? I can't find confirmation that that is the case. It wouldn't surprise me if it says in the fine detail that Section 21 will be abolished by next Wednesday.

Neil Patterson

9:51 AM, 2nd February 2022, About 2 years ago

Commenting, Phil Turtle, compliance director with Landlord Licensing & Defence [link to homepage please] said: “This should be the biggest wake-up call for landlords. It is good that there may finally be some comprehensible minimum standards for rental property instead of the current guess and guess again system.

“But landlords should be petrified that councils and local authorities, the unaccountable, revenue driven and merciless housing police are to be give even more powers to destroy landlords. Particularly given Gove’s reinforcement of the belief that Fines and Bans are the way to ensure Landlords provide decent quality homes.”

Reluctant Landlord

10:11 AM, 2nd February 2022, About 2 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Jane Tomlin at 02/02/2022 - 09:51
Yes Jane same question here....all bungled in with the other tosh they are spouting. As I read it...implemented by 2030. Could it mean phasing in a year or so before then, or a deadline date of X applicable only thereafter????
As they are making the whole bloody thing up anyway from fairy wishes, I suppose we just have to wait for the next 'thrilling' instalment of 'the cunning plan' .

Makes me laugh...they suppose they will still be in by 2030 to effect all this???
I despair!

Carol

10:15 AM, 2nd February 2022, About 2 years ago

I have no issue with providing a decent home for tenants. Most of my properties have an EPC rating of C or above. I have good long standing tenants who consider me a good landlord. However, I have also had bad tenants who work the system, destroy your property and 'steal' the rent, leaving you without the will to live.

I started selling my portfolio after being a landlord for 20 years. I feel I no longer have any control over my property and live in fear of fines for some small thing I have missed or something that the tenant does. Evictions have been rare. My policy was to sell when a tenant gave up the tenancy. However, this week I have put 2 more properties on the market with the rest to follow. The risks of loosing my retirement funds and the stress of ownership are now too high

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