Renters Reform Bill worse than feared

Renters Reform Bill worse than feared

10:26 AM, 18th May 2023, About 11 months ago 65

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It is only a Bill and has just been published but the Renters’ Reform Bill appears at first sight worse than many have feared. All tenancies are to become periodic, meaning landlords will have no security of income and student landlords in particular will find the tenants will not pay for the summer holidays.

One massive change is that currently section 21 notices cannot be served if the tenancy deposit has not been properly protected with an authorised scheme and the prescribed information given unless and until the deposit is returned to the tenant. That rule did not apply to Section 8 notices. Now it is proposed that except in cases of antisocial behaviour: “ the court may make an order for possession … only if the tenancy deposit is being held in accordance with an authorised scheme.”

The tenant must also have been given the Prescribed Information in the required form. So even if the ground for eviction is rent arrears, damage to the property or that the landlord wants the property back to live in himself, he may fail if the deposit paperwork is not in order.

When landlords eventually get to court tenants will be able to ambush them with a technical defence because, for example, the wrong clause number was referred to in the Prescribed Information or there was some other minor error. The safest course will be to return the deposit to the tenant which is really to add insult to injury and it will be a bold landlord who seeks a section 8 eviction without professional help. So much for Mr Gove’s statement today about being able to evict more quickly tenants who are “persistently and deliberately evading their responsibility to pay their rent”.


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Comments

Seething Landlord

15:02 PM, 26th May 2023, About 11 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Beaver at 26/05/2023 - 12:47
"However, I would also like something to be added to the bill to the effect that if the rent is late for at least a day on at least three separate occasions and the tenant consistently does not state in writing when the rent will be paid on time and in full then that is also automatic grounds for possession. That's reasonable."

I doubt if many tenants, politicians or judges would agree with you. Many landlords might also think it a bit over the top. You can't even start to charge interest on overdue rent until it has been outstanding for 14 days if I remember correctly.

Reluctant Landlord

15:34 PM, 26th May 2023, About 11 months ago

Reply to the comment left by JB at 26/05/2023 - 10:32
thats how I read it too.

Seething Landlord

16:54 PM, 26th May 2023, About 11 months ago

Reply to the comment left by JB at 26/05/2023 - 10:32
Yes, so then you would use ground 8 rather than ground 8A.

Beaver

17:39 PM, 26th May 2023, About 11 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Seething Landlord at 26/05/2023 - 15:02
What I am talking about here is persistent behaviour. Not where there is the odd mistake which I don't think most of us care about very much. It happens.

But some tenants take credit from wherever they can get it. And if you as the landlord are the weakest link they will take it from you. When this happened to us the tenant consistently paid late and consistently then only paid part of the rent. The effect of that was that we spent months chasing unpaid rent.

People that do this are used to paying their creditors a bit of what's owed in the hopes that this will stall the situation and keep their creditors off their backs. The problem for you as a landlord in this situation is that if you are not constantly chasing then you don't get paid. Some tenants will work that out. If there's a flaw in the system that says to the tenant just make sure you've paid "a bit" but that "bit" is never more than two months in arrears these people will exploit it.

Some people get used to working out how to beat the benefits system. And if there's a flaw in this system in how you get paid as a landlord they will work out how to beat that too.

The people who will suffer for that are the tenants that do pay on time and in full because in the end the costs of chasing the freeloaders will be loaded onto them.

Julesgflawyer

18:03 PM, 26th May 2023, About 11 months ago

Reply to the comment left by JB at 26/05/2023 - 10:32
Yes, but you'd still have the existing mandatory Ground 8.

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