Renters’ Rights Act depends on council enforcement claims tenant group

A tenant group claims the “Renters’ Rights Act will only be as effective as how well it is enforced”, as they claim councils need more enforcement powers.

Speaking to the London Assembly Housing Committee on the implementation of the Renters’ Rights Act, the Renters’ Reform Coalition claimed local authorities have not used existing powers to prosecute landlords.

Generation Rent, who also spoke at the committee, claimed Awaab’s law needs to be implemented as soon as possible.

Renters’ Rights Act places several new obligations on councils

Niamh Evans, policy officer at Renters’ Reform Coalition, told the Housing Committee: “The Renters’ Rights Act will only be as effective as how well it is enforced.

“The act does place several new obligations on local authorities to protect renters’ rights and actually take enforcement action, but they currently aren’t able to enforce the existing system of rights that we have.

“For example, in the three-year period to 2024, over a third of councils didn’t prosecute a single landlord. In the last three years, only one landlord in London was prosecuted for an illegal eviction.

“Clearly, we have our work cut out in boosting capacity, and we would like councils to take various opportunities to boost their enforcement, whether that’s through on-the-spot fines and new inspection powers that are enabled by the new act, but also looking at some of the existing frameworks, such as expanding selective licensing.

“40% of London councils do not operate a single selective licensing scheme and this could help boost their capacity and provide a stable source of funding.”

Don’t need duplication of selective licensing

However, the Renters’ Reform Coalition failed to mention that, since December last year, councils have new powers under the Renters’ Rights Act to carry out surprise inspections, including entering premises where tenancy records are kept, and to issue fines running into thousands of pounds.

As previously reported by Property118, Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA), also spoke at the committee meeting and pointed out that selective licensing schemes should not be needed under the Renters’ Rights Act.

He said: “The Renters’ Rights Act will deal with licensing. It will create a database for landlords, and every property will be listed on it. If you don’t register your property, you will face a fine. With this system in place, you don’t need the duplication of selective licensing.

“Local authorities have become addicted to this cash, and it’s difficult to replace. The database system will allow for targeted enforcement and give renters the information they need, without the need for double licensing.”

Ten years for the Decent Homes Standard is far too long

Elsewhere during the committee meeting, Generation Rent claimed the implementation date of Awaab’s law for 2027 and the Decent Homes Standard for 2035 is too late.

Ben Twomey, chief executive of Generation Rent, said: “Ten years for the Decent Homes Standard is far too long and it creates uncertainty about whether there will even be a government committed to delivering it by that point.

“Awaab’s Law is such a simple law built on an awful tragedy. All it does is introduce clear timescales within which landlords must deal with serious hazards.

“There is no reason to wait years just to say these issues need to be addressed within a reasonable period of time, so bringing Awaab’s Law forward, ideally to this year, would be far better.

“As for the Decent Homes Standard, it would only require changes to properties that are not already decent.”

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