Ben Beadle claims Renters’ Rights Bill’s Section 21 Ban is “not a big change”

Ben Beadle claims removing Section 21 will not be “a significant change for landlords.”

In an interview with BBC Radio 4 Today Programme, the chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, said: “It’s unreasonable for landlords to issue a Section 21 without a decent reason.”

His comments come after the Renters’ Rights Bill which is set to be introduced in Parliament will ban Section 21 evictions for new and existing tenancies as soon as it becomes law.

Section 21 ban shouldn’t be a significant change for landlords

Mr Beadle told the programme that he understands why the government wants to ban Section 21.

He said: “I understand the threat of Section 21 hanging over people’s heads where landlords don’t need to give a reason.

“I fully understand why the government is removing Section 21. I think we need to understand that we shouldn’t push the needle too far.

“While it’s unreasonable for landlords to issue Section 21 without a decent reason, I would argue that if you have a good tenant, you will want to keep them in the property.”

Mr Beadle then goes on to claim that despite a ban, this wouldn’t be a significant change.

He said: “This shouldn’t be a significant change for landlords all they want is an alternative to be effective for dealing with things like anti-social behaviour, rent arrears and selling a property.”

I have no issue with tenants having access to justice

Emma Barnett, the show’s presenter, asked Mr Beadle about plans to limit rent increases under the Renters’ Rights Bill.

She claimed there are fears that “unaffordable rent rises will become another form of no-fault eviction”.

The Bill aims to ban rent increases during a tenancy, allowing landlords to raise rent only once a year and only to the market rate.

Mr Beadle says many tenants don’t realise they can challenge rent increases.

He said: “I have no issue with tenants having access to justice. Tenants can already challenge unfair rent increases through the First Tier Tribunal, so this isn’t new, but many don’t even know it’s an option.”

According to Mr Beadle, more homes need to be built to ease demand with on average 17 tenants applying to rent one property.

He said: “Until we deal with the core issue of a lack of supply in the sector that’s not going to get better through these changes in some respects it may well get worse because it will force good landlords out of the sector.”

Don’t drive good landlords out of the sector

Ms Barnett asked what is driving the behaviour of some landlords in the private rented sector.

Mr Beadle says due to a lack of enforcement, many criminal landlords are simply able to get away with bad behaviour.

He said: “I think there is a lack of enforcement. Local authorities have been absolutely decimated in the past decade with regards to funding, and that simply means the vast majority of landlords have been doing a good job, do care about their tenants, and have much greater satisfaction ratings in the private rented sector than in social housing.”

Mr Beadle expressed some concerns about the Renters’ Rights Bill, emphasising the importance of good landlords in the sector.

He said: “What we don’t want to do is drive the good landlords out of the sector and leave the bad ones behind.

“Whatever these changes are going to look like we need to see a greater investment in enforcement in the sector.”

You can listen to the full interview here from 1 hr 15 mins.