Renters Reform Bill unfairly targeting landlords!

Renters Reform Bill unfairly targeting landlords!

14:46 PM, 7th May 2024, About 2 weeks ago 6

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The Resenters Reform Bill and years of bureaucratic fiasco appear testament to the performance of failed government policy over decades resulting in too much demand for homes.

Changing millions of existing tenancy contracts is a dumb and unfair solution to an obvious problem. According to Shelter, around 1 in 1000 tenancies result in a bailiff eviction, this is low by any definition.

The six month AST gives landlords and tenants known rights, it’s introduction has allowed some 5 million homes to be made available to renters. A remarkable achievement.

When someone takes a tenancy, it would be sensible if they are given a probationary period and not a home for life. If they want a home for life, the banks should lend to them (which of course many won’t). The landlord should be able to decide if they want to continue the tenancy and issue Section 21 if they don’t.

If the landlord gets a bad tenant it can appear a dark abyss trying to put this right going through an expensive process harder than most realise. I can give many stories of trying to help and provide a home for vulnerable people where support is simply not there and the pressures become unbearable when things go wrong.

On one occasion the Police changed the locks at the request of a tenant who had issues with another tenant and refused to even give me a key – the police effectively locked a female tenant out of her own home at the request of a male.

I fail to see how allowing a landlord to set a probationary period and issue a section 21 differs from an employment contract where there is always a probation period. Some tenancies just don’t work out.

The courts don’t work for landlords. Firstly they are expensive and slow if they work at all. The landlord has usually already lost money and the courts bleed more. I currently have a case where the tenant tells me they took the rent to first tier tribunal six months ago and I have heard nothing. I rang the tribunal to be told they don’t have the staff and six months have gone by.

For section 21 there is an imbalance where judges throw out cases regardless because of technicalities because the latest ‘how to rent guide’ (Has anyone ever read one) isn’t issued or the bond took more than 30 days to be put in a scheme, even though there is no detriment to the tenant. This court behaviour makes the process appear unbalanced.

It appears the truth is landlords are being forced to keep really bad tenants because there aren’t enough homes.

It may come as a surprise that when a tenant moves out for whatever reason (voluntarily or eviction) the house is still a home and isn’t kept as as some sort of empty monument or trophy. It is then occupied by someone else thereby reducing homelessness again. The shortage of homes is therefore the issue and this rests firmly with government and council planning.

Yet landlords are being held responsible.

If there were excess properties the Resenters Reform Bill would not exist as people would move freely, what more evidence is needed the Act is a callous attack on landlords many of whom are now vulnerable.

What can be proposed to address the housing crisis without burdening landlords unfairly?

Thanks,

Paul


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Comments

Cider Drinker

10:00 AM, 7th May 2024, About 2 weeks ago

Exactly.

The housing crisis is caused by too many people chasing too few homes. This is despite house building being quite prolific over the last decade or two and the birth rate dropping.

There are many reasons.

Number 1 must be the number of asylum seekers, economic migrants coming to the U.K. The numbers are far greater than the number of people leaving the country. I don’t blame people for leaving poorer countries to seek a better life in the U.K. but it cannot continue indefinitely.

Quite why the government chooses not to protect our country from this influx is quite bewildering. We don’t have sufficient homes, the NHS is unsustainably expensive, the Victorian sewer infrastructure simply wasn’t designed for this number of people. The list goes on.

Another significant reason is that people are living longer, often in houses way larger than their needs. Great grandparents used to be a rarity.

The third significant reason is that people choose to live separately. Whether it’s the pressures of modern life or the improved benefits available to single mums and dads that leads to so many people choosing to live in smaller households, something needs to be done to fix the problem. HMOs may be the answer but personally, I don’t like them.

Whatever the problem(s), it is not the PRS that caused them and it is not the PRS that can fix them.

We have the least patriotic government (and government in waiting) of any time in our history.

It will end badly.

Martin Thomas

11:04 AM, 7th May 2024, About 2 weeks ago

The fundamental issue is population growth and if you look at the ONS statistics, that are generally well thought of, you can clearly see that most of the growth relates to migration. It isn't just asylum seekers - the government has done little to control the numbers of people coming here from wherever in the mistaken belief (first advocated by Tony Blair) that an increase in the population equals growth in the economy and greater wealth for everyone. However, the GDP per person is much the same now as it was 20 years ago, so that theory is hooey!

moneymanager

11:22 AM, 7th May 2024, About 2 weeks ago

Reply to the comment left by Martin Thomas at 07/05/2024 - 11:04Displacement conspiracy truth? I think it was in 2018 that many countries adopted a UN proposal to regularise the bass people movement it predicted, we are paying for our own destruction, it's cultural Marxism strategy.

Michael Booth

15:01 PM, 7th May 2024, About 2 weeks ago

The full system is geared up to penalise landlords for failing policies blame game , courts, councils, all looking to catch landlords out in every legal requirement no matter how trivial and only going to get worse under liebor , l have sold one and have kept a open mind on my others if it goes has l predict these will be sold .

Mick Roberts

19:16 PM, 7th May 2024, About 2 weeks ago

Aah no, we han't got to do all new tenancies have we. I've been ignoring this Renters Reform bill, as they constantly changing it.

But if all need new tenancies, this could be the final straw for me. All my tenants that can't get anywhere, they gonna have to sign up with Letting Agent to make sure all my paperwork 2024 compliant. I can't keep up with it any more. We were all fine.
They gonna have to pay the increased cost of Letting Agent fee from their too cheap rent now.
And many of mine not paid deposit years ago, or a £300 Rent up front, when now we'd need £1800ish. I can't keep subsidising em forever and Govt are now making it more expensive for many tenants. Another example of Govt interference when nothing was going wrong.

Sally Robinson

11:15 AM, 13th May 2024, About 6 days ago

Hi everyone,
Yes indeed, the government has 'invited ' hundreds of thousands of people from o/seas to come and work in the 'care sectors.. So where are there good people and their families going to live? I don't see then 'sleeping in the trees or under lorries', so either there's a lot of illegal unregistered landlords have sprung into existence, or demand and rents from decent landlords will go up! The only way to prevent rogue landlords is for :
1. Solicitors to ask for HMRC tax/overseas tax numbers to advise the tax authorities in the relevant countries that a property has been bought to let , - this is not hard to do

AND A national register for landlords with compliance to safety regulations obligation.... no registration - no legal tenancy and anyone entering this country should be given the basic letting regulations and their rights as easily and clearly as they receive the duty free allowances....

AND 'confiscation of properties' illegally let - with no appeal - introduced as a penalty, with the properties being given to the local council to do as they wish with them.

AND Renters on benefits of any kind - the rent is paid directly from the providers to the landlords - I ask myself how much rent fraud is committed permitted by the benefits system through renters not passing on the rent element to the landlords because they know they will get off scott free?

Well, that's my starter for 10 anyway....

As a decent landlord I am fed up being treated as worthless and less than human - the police will not help me, the council will not help me, the rogue tenant isn't forced to give D.O.B. for help from U.C. and forwarding address for court claims.

This country is already a haven for rogue tenants and debtors and with this Reform Bill makes it even more so.

If 10% of all the decent landlords threw in the towel tomorrow - either all this government will have created is another 10% rogue landlords or 10% more people to be house by the local councils.

I look forward to any comments

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