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

Whiteskifreak Surrey

15:54 PM, 4th February 2022, About 2 years ago

Where is "Boris the landlords' friend" so highly anticipated here?

JB

18:27 PM, 4th February 2022, About 2 years ago

Reply to the comment left by DSR at 04/02/2022 - 13:19
When I enquired about the cost of care for my parents, the first question is 'Are you self funding?' as there are 2 rates, one for council funded residents and one for privately funded residents.

Therefore to add insult to injury privately funded residents subsidise council funded residents.

JB

18:30 PM, 4th February 2022, About 2 years ago

In my area on the coast many landlords are now doing Serviced Accommodation which takes property out of circulation for long term lets.

Our council tax will soon be sky high paying for emergency accommodation for all those who can't find anywhere to live

Mick Roberts

7:40 AM, 5th February 2022, About 2 years ago

Nothing in there about Good Landlords then?
Landlords who don't want their houses any more & only keeping them for the tenants as the tenants in 2022 can't get anywhere else cause the next Landlord won't take 'em cause he's not sure he will ever get his house back if a problem cause S21 not here any more.
Nothing in there to stopping punitive retrospective changes on Landlords which the man on the ground knows, ends up hurting the tenant.
Nothing in there to protect the Landlord & the tenant where the Landlord is charging the tenant 75% of normal surrounding rents as he's got morals & conscience & trying to look after tenant & also can afford to. But his charitable mind will only stretch so far. One more shock coming in & he's You what? I'm already looking after tenant & u enforcing this on us both? I'm out of here.

renters will have a secure path to ownership with the number of first-time buyers increasing in all areas;
He's on Cloud nine. Again nothing mentioned for Benefit tenants who can't afford to buy.

Alistair Cooper

10:27 AM, 5th February 2022, About 2 years ago

Another very poorly thought through white paper aimed at diverting attention away from Boris/Partygate and failing to define any serious policy
£3bn may sound a lot of money but in terms of solving Britain’s lack of quality affordable housing it’s like giving an Alsatian a tiny pea sized piece of meat; he will gobble it in a flash and come back for a whole lot more!
As discussed a mere 15% increase in the Housing Element of Uni Credit bill will cost more than this alone.
Increasing more and more costs upon any business especially in a highly inflationary environment will result in one thing; far higher prices, ie rents.
Politicians of all colours who fail to make the effort to really understand the market and just jump on the generation rent bandwagon miss the point; it will cost a huge amount of public money one way or another to provide quality low cost housing.
They either build their own and struggle to manage it properly, ‘give’ cheap money to so called housing associations which already behave like corporate PLCs, or pay the ‘pain’ via much higher housing benefits as rents increase swiftly and more and more people claim, and claim higher amounts!
This white paper clearly didn’t get proof read by Rishi Sunak!
Banks may decide to enter the market by becoming big landlords, but will they want to continue to offer 85% LTV mortgages when they too can’t get a tenant out even when they exercise their right to take control of the property under the 1925 Property Act?
No mention of reforming the totally broken Civil Courts System. We already have a situation where in reality a tenant that resists a section 21 notice knows they have 12-18 months before any real ‘fear’ of eviction is likely to materialise

Trish

13:31 PM, 5th February 2022, About 2 years ago

We already have standards for decent homes - gas safety checks, electrical checks and certification etc etc. However I sometimes wonder why I spend time and money keeping up with all this, when no-one checks whether its been done and, as a landlord, I still get tarred with the same brush as those whose properties are not fit to live in.
Also, I agree with other people here - my tenants leave when they are ready, usually after some years, but I object to not being able to ask them to need if I need them to. It's their home, but it's my house - we should both have rights!

Accidental LL

14:27 PM, 5th February 2022, About 2 years ago

S21 IS essential should a forced sale of a rental asset be required to pay extortionate home care fees!
Gove states "RENTERS WILL HAVE A SECURE PATH TO OWNERSHIP."
This implies a home being HIRED for other people's use will somehow become the permanent property of the renter?
And such a new "OWNER" would then no longer need to pay rent for its use.

It is basically wrong that Gove's LEVELLING UP should interfere with MUTUALLY AGREED FAIR contracts between parties.

I have written to Gove asking him to carefully read the numerous comments on this 118 s21 listing in order that he might gain an appreciation of the NEGATIVE effect the many legal impositions applied to the PRS is having on LL's who generally are Tory voters.

The comments reflect the true situation in general between landlords and tenants rather than hype portrayed by most of the media.

M&SFAN

16:10 PM, 5th February 2022, About 2 years ago

Reply to the comment left by CYRIL STALEY at 05/02/2022 - 14:27
The actual problem is that housing is now in such a huge mess that it will cost a fortune to sort it out. As soon as Thatcher sold off council houses without letting new ones be built with the proceeds, you could see where it would end up. And it has. Be realistic, this levelling up scheme won't have new money, we know this. So someone has to pay for the latest bits of sticky plaster and the government has decided that this time it will be small landlords.

Peter G

18:31 PM, 5th February 2022, About 2 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Roanch 21 at 02/02/2022 - 10:52
No wonder Gove is smiling, with all the extra CGT coming in due to his stupid policies!

Peter G

18:37 PM, 5th February 2022, About 2 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Alistair Cooper at 05/02/2022 - 10:27
You're right. These policies are one-sided and not thought through for consequences. Silence on so many issues that need addressing, like problem tenants and the Courts. Sunak is loving the CGT coming from all the landlords selling up - so we need a loophole now!

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