Renters’ Rights Bill enters report stage today

The Renters’ Rights Bill enters report stage in the House of Lords today, with new amendments to be introduced.

The report stage will see three debates, one today, another on 7th July, and the final on 15th July.

The news comes amid doubts over whether the Renters’ Rights Bill will achieve Royal Assent, meaning it may not become law until the autumn.

Unable to provide a clear rationale for fixed-term tenancy ban

Calum MacInnes, chair at SAPRS (Student Accredited Private Rental Sector) warns the bill will cause chaos to the student rental market.

He said: “The Renters’ Rights Bill is now approaching its final stages where much-needed amendments can still be made to this bill.

“We have been campaigning throughout its entire legislative journey, and to this day the government is unable to provide a clear rationale for the fixed-term tenancy ban on private student housing.

“While we agree that there is much to be applauded in this bill, it falls short when considering its impact on the student rental market.

“The proposed changes will only exacerbate what is a crisis in the availability and affordability of student housing, with students being the group that suffer. We are urging the government to reconsider the proposals before it’s too late.”

Allow student tenancies to remain as fixed-term

New amendments under the Bill include Baroness Scott of Bybrook pushing once again to allow student tenancies to remain as fixed-term tenancies.

Baroness Bybrook from the Conservatives questions why the full-time student test is restricted to just university education and does not include other full-time learners such as those on apprenticeships or in further education.

The amendments state: “To allow student tenancies to remain as fixed tenancies to provide the certainty that both student tenants and student landlords require.”

Another amendment seeks to broaden the definition of a student to potentially include those involved in apprenticeships or other forms of further education, referencing Section A1 of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009.

Civil penalties for non-compliance

Industry body Propertymark also warns the Bill will likely introduce higher costs and risks for landlords, particularly with high civil penalties for non-compliance, starting at £7,000 and rising to a maximum civil penalty of up to £40,000.

However, Baroness Scott of Bybrook has added an amendment which limits the local housing authority’s power to impose a financial penalty to a maximum of £7,000.

As previously, reported on Property118, councils will benefit from the Renters’ Rights Bill with more powers to increase fines.

Stronger powers for selective licensing schems

Another amendment, supported by tenant groups and the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, includes stronger powers for selective licensing.

Lord Shipley of the Liberal Democrats proposes amendments that “would remove unnecessary barriers to the use of licensing schemes to improve housing standards.”

The amendments would enable local authorities operating selective licensing schemes to use licence conditions to improve housing conditions.

They aim to remove a “peculiar disconnect” in current legislation, where councils can introduce selective licensing to tackle poor housing but cannot include conditions in the licences requiring the physical state of properties to be improved.

Lord Shipley’s second amendment would increase the maximum duration of additional HMO and selective licensing schemes from five to ten years.

Mark Elliott, president of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, praised the amendments and claims will tackle poor housing conditions in the private rented sector.

Mr Elliot said: “We are very grateful to Lord Shipley for ensuring that the Lords will return to these issues at report stage.

“The government responded to our first amendment at committee stage by referring to the proposed extension of the Decent Homes Standard and Awaab’s Law to the private rented sector.

“Neither of those measures, however, will remove the need for councils to be able to use enforceable licence conditions, without the need for tenants to have complained, to deal in a proactive way with general disrepair in areas with poor housing conditions.

He adds: “With regard to our second amendment, the government did not appear to recognise at committee stage the amount of time and money that is wasted through councils being unnecessarily required to repeat the designation process for licensing schemes.

“We are urging the government to think again and to accept these amendments that would help councils with tackling poor housing conditions and supporting the most vulnerable tenants.”

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