Renters (Reform) Bill will face tweaks to help landlords – and tenants

Renters (Reform) Bill will face tweaks to help landlords – and tenants

10:02 AM, 2nd April 2024, About 6 months ago 25

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The government is set to tweak its Renters (Reform) Bill in England, aiming to address concerns from landlords while still delivering security for tenants.

Critics say the changes will create ‘a landlords charter’ but ministers are responding to criticism from Conservative MPs who say the Bill is too burdensome for landlords.

The revised proposals include a mandatory six-month tenancy period for renters, replacing the current system where they can leave with two months’ notice.

Levelling Up Minister Jacob Young defended the changes, and in a letter to Tory MPs said the changes ensure ‘landlords can rely on a letting period that covers costs’ and prevents short-term lets.

‘Ministers now need to crack on’

The chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, Ben Beadle, said: “Ministers now need to crack on to ensure the Bill can proceed with the scrutiny it deserves.

“All the rumour, speculation and off-the-record briefings about the future of the Bill has caused a huge amount of concern and uncertainty for tenants and responsible landlords.

“The Government has a mandate to end section 21 repossessions.

“Our focus has been on ensuring that the replacement system works, and is fair, to both tenants and responsible landlords. The changes being proposed would achieve this balance.”

Delaying the ban on Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions

Another key change involves delaying the ban on Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions which will be postponed until the justice secretary decides whether courts can deal with a rise in repossession claims.

The Bill, initially introduced last May, aimed to completely abolish no-fault evictions.

Under the revised plan, landlords could still evict tenants in specific situations, such as wanting to sell the property or needing it for themselves or close family.

The government is also considering exemptions to the six-month minimum tenancy, including situations involving tenant death, domestic abuse or serious property hazards.

Reviewing council landlord licensing schemes

Further proposals include reviewing council landlord licensing schemes to avoid duplication with a new property portal for landlord registration.

Also, students could face easier eviction at the end of their academic year, while tenants evicted under new grounds would be entitled to local council homelessness support.

One issue is the abolition of fixed-term contracts in favour of indefinite rolling tenancies.

While the government sees this as offering tenants greater security, critics argue it reduces predictability for landlords.

The proposed changes are ‘cowardly’

Shelter’s chief executive, Polly Neate, said the proposed changes are ‘cowardly’ and said the government would ‘rather betray renters than stand up to a minority of MPs hell-bent on browbeating them into watering down the Renters (Reform) Bill.’

The campaign manager at the Renters’ Reform Coalition, Tom Darling, said delaying the ban on Section 21 would not be in place until after the next general election.

He told the BBC: “The government’s flagship legislation to help renters is fast becoming a Landlord’s Charter.”

One Tory MP with concerns about the Bill, Anthony Mangnall, said he still wants more changes and added there are ‘outstanding issues such as fixed-term contracts’ that need fixing.

‘Give much needed protection to renters’

Matt Downie, the chief executive of Crisis, said: “The Renters (Reform) Bill’s purpose was to give much needed protection to renters, and it’s absolutely vital that it does so.

“Failing to immediately abolish Section 21 or ‘no-fault’ evictions โ€“ the leading cause of homelessness in England โ€“ won’t do that.”

Labour has said it would abolish Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions if it wins the next General Election.

Shadow housing minister Matthew Pennycook said: “After years of delay, private renters have every right to be furious at the watering down of the vital protections the Tories promised them.”


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Paul Essex

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9:39 AM, 2nd April 2024, About 6 months ago

So student landlords get to keep Section 21, any bets on this just covering PBSA?

Michael Booth

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9:53 AM, 2nd April 2024, About 6 months ago

Well well shelter calling the goverment cowardly,why do they think the government are looking more closely at section 21 and other licensing schemes , have a guess shelter , not got it yet , look at the figures of landlords leaving the prs .

Vanessa Shenton

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10:07 AM, 2nd April 2024, About 6 months ago

"Private renters have the right to be furious..." I find this strange given recent polls demonstrating most tenants have not even heard of the RRB! Could it be that the majority of tenants do not have a problem that these "pro tenant groups" suggest they have? Maybe these groups support those affected by "no fault described" evictions, many of whom are a landlords worst nightmare!! However, maybe many good tenants DO actually have cause to complain...their rents are going up, with these so called pro tenant groups forcing through counterintuitive legislation being a significant factor. Wake up, for goodness sake. Landlords are selling!!!

Cider Drinker

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10:13 AM, 2nd April 2024, About 6 months ago

๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ถ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜น-๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜บ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด, ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜บ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ต๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ดโ€™ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฆ.
The current system starts with a six months fixed term. We are not suggesting that tenants will need to give six months notice are we?
๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜Ž๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ข ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ 21 ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด.
The government won the election with many promises. Most of these have been ignored.
๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜‰๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ, ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜บ, ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ-๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ต ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด.
Wrong! The Bill aimed to abolish Section 21 of the Housing Act. Section 8 has a number of no-fault options. Section 21 Notices are issued for undisclosed reasons.
โ€œ๐น๐‘Ž๐‘–๐‘™๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘–๐‘š๐‘š๐‘’๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘™๐‘ฆ ๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘–๐‘ โ„Ž ๐‘†๐‘’๐‘๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘› 21 ๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ โ€˜๐‘›๐‘œ-๐‘“๐‘Ž๐‘ข๐‘™๐‘กโ€™ ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘  โ€“ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘™๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘“ โ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’๐‘™๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ ๐‘›๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘  ๐‘–๐‘› ๐ธ๐‘›๐‘”๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ โ€“ ๐‘ค๐‘œ๐‘›โ€™๐‘ก ๐‘‘๐‘œ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก.โ€
The leading causes of homelessness in England are too many people and too few houses. Stop fake asylum seekers.

krispy

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10:26 AM, 2nd April 2024, About 6 months ago

Why are tenants rent payments not linked to their credit score.
They are for buying a phone or a pair of shoes with Klarna.
Canada are now looking at this option.

Luke P

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10:37 AM, 2nd April 2024, About 6 months ago

Olโ€™ Beadle just canโ€™t wait to see it brought in, can heโ€ฆ?

Jo Westlake

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10:49 AM, 2nd April 2024, About 6 months ago

That "minority of MPs" represent hundreds of thousands of landlords.
Probably far more people than Shelter or Generation Rent claim to be campaigning for. They also represent large numbers of tenants and may have the mental capacity to understand that forcing through legislation landlords are totally opposed to will cause homelessness and sky high temporary housing bills which will bankrupt many Local Authorities. The other MPs are either ignoring their landlord constituents or are totally ignorant of the way the PRS works.

Surveys usually show over 80% of PRS tenants are happy with their home, landlords and overall renting experience. What is the point of messing up a system that is working for the vast majority of tenants?
Of the less than 20% who claim they're not happy, what is the reason? Is it something wrong with the property, or that they resent paying rent, or the landlord won't allow them to have a pet, or the landlord has threatened to evict them due to some form of ASB?

Reluctant Landlord

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11:09 AM, 2nd April 2024, About 6 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Jo Westlake at 02/04/2024 - 10:49
...and of the 20% not happy there, there is ALREADY a system of complaint/redress in place. Report to LL, not joy then report to Council or go seek legal assistance (which will no doubt be funded by legal aid) Or hand in their notice.

SimonR

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13:40 PM, 2nd April 2024, About 6 months ago

Reply to the comment left by krispy at 02/04/2024 - 10:26
Why are tenants rent payments not linked to their credit score." Sorry but you're going to have to explain this one too me. Are you saying the lower the score the lower/higher the rent if so how is that fair?

Grumpy Doug

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14:05 PM, 2nd April 2024, About 6 months ago

Reply to the comment left by SimonR at 02/04/2024 - 13:40
If tenants register with Experian, their rent payments count towards their credit score. I encourage mine to do so as it will help them when it comes time to get a mortgage

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