Shelter demands 12 months of no re-letting in new Bill

Shelter demands 12 months of no re-letting in new Bill

9:50 AM, 11th July 2023, About 10 months ago 56

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The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee has been told that the Renters (Reform) Bill needs strengthening to prevent landlords from using a loophole to evict tenants for no reason.

The follow-up meeting heard that under the proposals, the law will enable landlords to take possession of their rented property when they or a family member want to move in or to sell it – and there will be a period of three months when the property cannot be re-let.

However, Shelter’s policy manager Tarun Bhakta told the committee that the Bill offers ‘a backdoor to ‘no-fault’ evictions’ and he said the no re-letting period should be longer.

He told the committee: “This is a big concern of ours, at the moment a landlord won’t be allowed to put the property back on the market for three months.

“We don’t think that is a strong enough disincentive when misusing those grounds, particularly when you consider that it might be quite difficult to design quite robust evidential requirements for the landlord moving in. It’s really difficult to imagine what that would look like, but we want the government to try their best.”

’12 months for no re-letting is what we are recommending’

He added: “We think there needs to be strong disincentives via the no reletting period so 12 months for no re-letting is what we are recommending.”

And when tenants believe they have been wrongly evicted, tenants should be able to seek compensation and rent repayment orders – and tenants should be given an incentive to bring a case of wrongful eviction to a local authority.

In response, an irritated Ben Beadle, the chief executive of the National Residential Landlords’ Association, said: “This isn’t roulette. It gets tested in court, it goes before a judge, a judge will need to be satisfied that the landlord is telling the truth about selling the property.

“And the last time I checked, if you lied in court, it was perjury so I would say that was a pretty strong disincentive.”

He added: “I don’t know what it is what my friend from Shelter wants to see, whether it is waterboarding or public flogging, but a financial penalty of £30k if you re-let sounds to me to be a lot of money and I think we have to look through the lens of why landlords are selling and the confidence levels in the sector are where we should start rather than having 12 months punishing waits and lots of extended notice periods.”

Turning to Mr Bhakta, Mr Beadle said: “And, actually, do your clients a great disservice.”

Below is Mr Beadle’s response to Mr Bhakta’s comments:

Watch the full committee exchange on Parliament.tv


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Comments

Peter

11:54 AM, 11th July 2023, About 10 months ago

BEWARE !! With only a Sec 8 served any Tenants seeking accommodation from the Local Council will be advised to stay put and NOT pay rent as they are not under threat of being homeless like Sec 21. I know this because it happened to me.

Seething Landlord

11:56 AM, 11th July 2023, About 10 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Peter Merrick at 11/07/2023 - 11:27
Exactly, it's a double edged sword which will potentially cause more problems for tenants than for landlords.

Seething Landlord

12:04 PM, 11th July 2023, About 10 months ago

Reply to the comment left by dismayed landlord at 11/07/2023 - 10:12
What about the £30000 fine and compensation/rent repayment order that Shelter are lobbying for? Will you be happy with that as well?

Reluctant Landlord

12:51 PM, 11th July 2023, About 10 months ago

Will someone pass me a large hammer to knock the nails back in. Marxists need to be put back in the box....

dismayed landlord

13:03 PM, 11th July 2023, About 10 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Seething Landlord at 11/07/2023 - 12:04
I did say re the year banning not re letting. Not the rest obviously. But they also will have to trove that. In which case trying to get it to court ?!. I am on a winner if it’s Anything like getting court hearings at present. Besides I can lie in court.and still get away with it!! Like tenants do! Called levelling up.

Seething Landlord

13:44 PM, 11th July 2023, About 10 months ago

Reply to the comment left by dismayed landlord at 11/07/2023 - 13:03
Local Authorities are probably going to act as judge, jury and executioner as far as penalties are concerned. I can't quite get my head round why you would want to evict a tenant on the grounds that you intend to sell the property, leave it empty for a year and then re-let it, knowing that if challenged you would probably have to prove that you had made reasonable but unsuccessful efforts to sell throughout the year.

Nick Van Hoogstraten

13:53 PM, 11th July 2023, About 10 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Seething Landlord at 11/07/2023 - 13:44
I just got rid of a bad tenant. Late payments, lots of repairs requested, on benefits... Trying to get your own property is a nightmare atm. I used S21 and no court appearances required. It's all very expensive. Landlords can fail for the tiniest of small issues and are back to square one. I think I'd just take the 1 year of leaving the property empty as the sure fire way of getting rid.

Angelin Perry

14:01 PM, 11th July 2023, About 10 months ago

Reply to the comment left by dismayed landlord at 11/07/2023 - 10:12
Quite agree! How long does it take to fix up a property after a bad tenant? How long does a landlord take to recover from the trauma?? How much does it cost financially? Court waiting time? A joke.

Mick Roberts

14:07 PM, 11th July 2023, About 10 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Martin Roberts at 11/07/2023 - 09:59
Well said Martin.

And well defended Ben Beadle.

Has Shelter thought this through? If they want this house not rented for a year, that's one less house for tenants and one family in homeless for another year? Am I missing something here, or are Shelter really that thick and that vindictive?

Reluctant Landlord

14:38 PM, 11th July 2023, About 10 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Seething Landlord at 11/07/2023 - 13:44
Mandatory grounds if you are looking to sell. Why claim rent arrears and potentially have your possession date kicked into the long grass of a discretionary ground?

Get a nightmare tenant/one in rent arrears out by stating you are selling. Put a board up at the property saying you are selling privately and give details. Take a photo. Put it on marketplace - take a screenshot. Put it on a card in the local newspaper shop take a photo. All proof (and very reasonable as you DO NOT need to use an estate agent to sell a property) that it is on the market and you intend to sell.

Get a quote for conveyancing from a solicitor and use this as proof of your intention if anything is needed. Remember intending to sell does not necessarily mean actually selling at the end of the day.....
If the government are going to make running a business difficult then time to think outside the box....

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