Renters Reform Bill – the end of fixed term tenancies

Renters Reform Bill – the end of fixed term tenancies

9:01 AM, 23rd May 2023, About 11 months ago 33

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By abolishing fixed term tenancies, the Renters’ Reform Bill will cause serious problems for landlords of student accommodation. The issue is not that the tenants may stay after the end of the tenancy but that they might leave early.

Even now it can take months to evict over-stayers. Many properties are unlikely to let to students except at the start of the academic year.

Students who have previously signed a tenancy from, say, September 1st to July 31st will be able to leave at any time on one month’s notice.

Many will choose to avoid paying rent over the summer holidays.

The group may choose to give notice

If one or more of a group of students falls out with the others, the group may choose to give notice rather than resolve their differences or bring in a replacement tenant.

Landlords will lose income and become liable for Council Tax.

The quid pro quo is that rents will have to rise to give the same annual return and cater for the risk of voids.

Some landlords may stop letting to students altogether putting extra pressure on rents.

There are other adverse effects to tenants being able to leave early.

May not offer better terms for signing a longer lease

Landlords may not offer better terms for signing a longer lease as tenants cannot bind themselves to stay.

Attempts to do so by reducing the rent later in the tenancy may fall foul of the Tenant Fees Act.

Instead of staying in hotels or Air BnB, holidaymakers may pretend they want a home and sign a tenancy of a property in a tourist area.

As soon as the ink is dry on the contract, they can give a month’s notice. “And summer’s lease hath all too short a date” – W. Shakespeare.

Renegotiate letting agents’ fees

Landlords will have to renegotiate letting agents’ fees. The typical 10% plus VAT of the first year’s rent will be excessive if the tenant leaves after a few months.

Michael Gove says the Bill is intended to help tenants to stay long-term in their homes.

This part of the Bill has nothing to do with that and allows, indeed encourages, tenants to behave cavalierly.


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Comments

Michael Crofts

8:22 AM, 27th May 2023, About 11 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Christopher Rattew at 26/05/2023 - 19:57I'm not being rude but honestly if you cannot see why a fixed term cannot be a legal contract then I think you have not read the Bill because the very first section says this:-
1 Assured tenancies to be periodic with rent period not exceeding a month
In the 1988 Act, before section 5 insert— “4A Assured tenancies to be periodic with rent period not exceeding a month
(1) Terms of an assured tenancy are of no effect so far as they provide for the tenancy to be a fixed term tenancy.
It could not be more clear. Fixed term agreements are of no effect. In other words they will not be legal contracts, they will not be worth the paper they are written on.

XPP

9:12 AM, 27th May 2023, About 11 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Michael Crofts at 27/05/2023 - 08:22
Sorry for this ignorant question....
Is it not possible to have a side agreement to the contract that to reserve the accommodation for their academic year of 10 - 11 months and they are liable for the rent even if they terminate earlier or extended than the period agreed? If they do not agree for this then the rent will be increased by 50%? This will put the pressure back on them for this! Sorry for ignorant thought process not knowing the legal implications...

Chris Rattew

9:43 AM, 27th May 2023, About 11 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Michael Crofts at 27/05/2023 - 08:22
In practice, tenants keep to the contract they agree. That is already the case with contracts less than 6 months, and tenants have always kept to their agreements. About 20% of our tenancies are less than 6 months. In practice, the fixed term makes no difference, as, if a tenant refused to move out, then the new tenant will arrive with nowhere to go. It is often the case that we have a tenancy booked for September before a summer tenancy starts. The new bill gives too little security for the short term of perhaps a year that a tenant needs to have uninterrupted conditions in Manchester during their work contract or study.

Chris Rattew

9:45 AM, 27th May 2023, About 11 months ago

Reply to the comment left by XPP at 27/05/2023 - 09:12
It may be possible, but this would not be enforced by the courts.

NigelH

11:06 AM, 27th May 2023, About 11 months ago

If a student contract started in July, there would be less chance of them leaving early, the next year.

Does anyone know what Scottish student landlords are doing, as they have this problem for a while now

XPP

11:16 AM, 27th May 2023, About 11 months ago

Reply to the comment left by at 27/05/2023 - 11:06
There is a possibility 1 or 2 students may want to leave in Jan due to various reasons on the course they selected in the uni. This happened twice to me. Since they had group tenancy they managed to find tenants with great difficulty...

Yvonne Francis

11:30 AM, 27th May 2023, About 11 months ago

Reply to the comment left by XPP at 27/05/2023 - 09:12
Not only would your suggestion not be enforced by the courts but you may be heading for a 20k fine!

DAMIEN RAFFERTY

13:10 PM, 27th May 2023, About 11 months ago

You can't increase the Rent by 50% or any other amount unless it's in line with local Rents and the tenants agree to the rent rise.
Thousands of Stident landlords in Scotland have sold up since 2017 leaving to huge issues with students in Glasgow and Edinburgh

Bill

13:53 PM, 27th May 2023, About 11 months ago

Not many holiday makers will be able to do that in N Wales where I have rental properties. There is very little to rent and only the best applicants for mine get put forward for referencing.

LordOf TheManor

19:53 PM, 28th May 2023, About 11 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Ian Narbeth at 23/05/2023 - 17:43
I'm still awaiting a response from both Mr Gove & the NUS.

Radio silence - so far!!!

Question is:

What do I do with my housing model for the NHS student intake when they leave first year student halls??

Facts:

1. NHS students live in halls in their first year. (Maybe that's a way of weeding out?) Whatever - it's not unusual to see 'mature students' who are accepted on NHS courses after failed attempts at other careers. The point is that NHS student 'digs' aren't always occupied by teenagers... & due to the 12 hour day & night shift on-the- job- training, sharing with non-NHS students isn't an option.
2. I house NHS students directly out of halls. They are given a 12 month tenancy with a proposed roll-over for their final year.

2. It means these much needed vocational students can stay in the same accommodation of mine until they graduate.... which is hugely beneficial to them.

Their educational journey is 3 months classroom then 3 months being supervised 'on the job'.

The academic (classroom learning) is all done by May. Uni year shuts down.... but NHS students are still fulfilling their qualifying on-the-job experience long after other students have gone home for the summer.

I house these much needed NHS students directly out of halls & they stay (as anticipated from the start) until they graduate.

It means that they don't have to go house-hunting for their 2nd year - or to be caught having to move out/clean a property while moving into another.

It's an impossible ask after a 12-hour night shift, especially if the only digs don't exist in your Uni city!!

What is the fate of the NHS students studying adult nursing, physiotherapy, radiology, pathology, etc??

If I can't house them as I do now...... how will they be able to take up these NHS training courses which demand a degree??

Could somebody with influence please nudge either NUS and/or Mr Gove for an intelligent response PDQ?

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