Renters’ Rights Bill is facing legislative delays

All those tenants threatened by S21 evictions will be evicted with section 8, either rent arrears or antisocial behaviour. Nothing will change except the timescale and cost, the latter will be added to rents in general. Dan Wilson Craw needs to confront reality.

Am I right in thinking if one tenant on a joint tenancy gives notice the entire household has to move out?
This was mentioned by a lawyer peaking at a landlord meeting I recently attended.
Surely that would be far more damaging to the majority of that household than the current Section 21. A student who suddenly decides to quit could leave his housemates homeless at a crucial time in their studies.
This has got to be an unintended consequence of the concept of removing fixed term tenancies. Currently students (or other people) sign up for a fixed term and they know they have a home for at least that period. Under the Renters Rights Bill they will sign a tenancy thinking they have a home for whatever period they require but could be homeless within a few weeks due to the actions of one of their own household.
What will happen in reality if the rest of the household can't find anywhere else to live or simply don't move out? How long would it take to evict them (if we wanted to)? Presumably they would be liable for the departed tenants share of the rent if they don't vacate? What if they can't afford it? How many careers will be ruined by CCJs that weren't really the fault of that person?

How many people are going to be willing to sign a joint tenancy knowing any member of the household could put them in this situation at any time? Individual tenancies could be the solution but some mortgage companies won't allow them in shared houses.

When is someone going to understand that as landlords we want stability? We have never evicted people for fun. Many of us have never evicted anyone but for those that have there has always been a valid reason. The idea that one housemate could cause his entire household to be homeless through his own selfishness is far worse than the current system.

The Renters Rights Bill will be a Disaster its the wrong policy at the wrong time.
If 25000 people have been evicted since Starmer came into power it was for a reason. That Reason will probably be Government and Councils ant- landlord policy. And Good tenants are suffering.
Wait till Millibrains EPC rules wipe out 40% of the country`s Rental Stock.

Reply to the comment left by Jo Westlake at 30/06/2025 - 10:50
This has always been the case with joint tenancies. It is easy to get a replacement tenant or have a new tenancy.
I dont see this as a problem.

Reply to the comment left by Northernpleb at 30/06/2025 - 10:53
Absolutely the wrong policy.

Reply to the comment left by Stella at 30/06/2025 - 11:35
It hasn't always been the case with joint tenancies at all. Currently a joint tenancy is usually for a fixed period. For students that's usually the academic year. Currently the entire group know they have a home for that period. Obviously sometimes people drop out and the other housemates make a decision as to whether to find a new housemate to take over that share of the tenancy or leave the room empty, in which case the departing tenant is still liable for the rent until the end of the fixed term. Either way they aren't expected to move out themselves or pay the departing person share of the rent.

This idea that a group can move in expecting to have a home for the entire academic year and then have one housemate unilaterally hand in notice before Christmas is totally uncharted territory.

Reply to the comment left by Jo Westlake at 30/06/2025 - 12:28
Sorry I was thinking only of the professional sharers that I usually have but the student market is clearly different.
Over the years when a sharer wanted to move out during the fixed term they were replaced using a deed of assignment and if it was during a periodic tenancy then there would be a new contract.
I am assuming that there will be a similar way of doing this going forward.

I have been musing over the new tenancies and wonder what the government thinks is so evil about fixed term tenancies which automatically roll over to monthly tenancies, i.e. what we have now? Can anyone enlighten me?

Reply to the comment left by Stella at 30/06/2025 - 13:35
Even for professional house shares joint tenancies are problematic. How many people want joint and several liability with people they don't know?

There are reasons why student tenancies used to work incredibly well for all parties as fixed term joint tenancies. Firstly students are exempt from paying Council tax so it was financially sensible to live in a group. Forging lifelong friendships and living in their own little bubble were all a very valuable part of the university experience. They all want to arrive at some point in September and leave sometime in June or July. However, COVID made it harder to find parents willing to stand as guarantor for a load of other people's children. Council tax exemption is one of the main reasons it's incredibly hard to randomly replace a student mid tenancy.

It's harder to think of a reason why a joint tenancy is a good idea for random strangers.

Reply to the comment left by TheMaluka at 30/06/2025 - 15:35You can't have fixed tenancies and ban no-fault evictions, the two are conflicting