Renters’ Rights Bill will fuel a rise in tenancy disputes – claim

The number of tenancy disputes in the UK has reached its second-highest level in a decade, research reveals.

Inventory Base says it has analysed historical data from the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) and found that disputes have been steadily increasing, with a big jump last year.

The property inventory specialists say that in 2023, the number of annual disputes rose to 42,180, up from 27,035 in 2013.

That’s a 56% increase over the past decade.

While there were temporary declines in 2021 and 2022 due to pandemic-related eviction bans, the number of disputes surged by 20.5% in 2023.

TDS predicts that disputes will continue to rise, reaching 42,542 by the end of 2024 and 44,040 by the end of 2025 – the highest annual total since 2014.

Important to implement flawless practices

Siân Hemming-Metcalfe, the operations director at Inventory Base, said: “The number of disputes we’re seeing, and the rate at which they’re increasing, goes to show just how important it is for landlords and letting agents to implement flawless practices in deposit protection and inventories.

“It’s forecast that disputes are set to rise, and the likelihood is that the proposed Renters’ Rights Bill will only lead to a higher number of disputes as both tenant and landlord adjust to the new laws put into place.”

She adds: “What’s more, the government is seemingly intent on pushing through a ban on Section 21 evictions before a reform of the county system has been completed.

“The courts are already struggling with the sheer volume of cases at present and so for those disputes that do require court proceedings in order to be resolved, the time taken to do so is likely to increase considerably.”

Tenants benefitted from protection measures

The firm says that over the past decade, there have only been two years in which the number of tenancy disputes has fallen.

That was in 2021 and 2022 which saw recorded drops of -5.3% and -13.6% respectively.

However, this is when tenants benefitted from protection measures, including eviction bans, that were introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

And once these protections were removed, 2023 saw an enormous increase of +20.5% in a single year in the number of disputes recorded.