Study apparently shows Renters’ Rights Bill won’t ‘harm the rental market’?

Reply to the comment left by Julesgflawyer at 05/08/2025 – 14:52
The tenant owes £5k, you sue for £300 in year one and a further £300 in year five. You have not taken action on the remaining £4.4k. There is no abuse of process.

Reply to the comment left by TheMaluka at 05/08/2025 – 17:28
As a small portfolio landlord I find this conversation fascinating and I’m learning from it. I appreciate that it’s for the ‘greater-good’ but I suspect that it’s only the bigger landlords that are going to have the luxury of doing this…unless someone creates a register of non-paying tenants or bad-tenants somewhere. But I have not seen any mention of that in the Renters Reform Bill.

For most of the rest of us (the small portfolio landlords) we are just not going to be housing tenants who have CCJs or a poor credit-rating.

Reply to the comment left by Beaver at 05/08/2025 – 17:33
I think you have hit the nail squarely on the head. Nobody should be housing anyone who has a CCJ, so if all landlords who are owed money, no matter how small, get a moneyclaim judgement for £300, a sum which attracts the minimum court fee, the tenant will find it very hard to find a new MUG landlord.

Reply to the comment left by TheMaluka at 05/08/2025 – 17:58
If the RRB goes ahead in its present form there is going to be a growing list of tenants who are unhouseable in the PRS.

Reply to the comment left by TheMaluka at 05/08/2025 – 17:28
Strictly speaking, you have. A claimant should properly bring all claims (of which they have knowledge) arising out of the same facts, in one set of proceedings. Also, don’t forget the six year limitation problem if you try to salami slice a single debt claim like this.

I would have to agree that the RRB won’t harm the rental market in the long term but it won’t be the current landlords managing the stock, it will be corporate landlords, including large new build-to-rent blocks. Rents will of course increase substantially, which tenants may class as harm, but in other ways tenants will get a much better deal. There may also be a transition issue if existing landlords exit the market at a faster rate than the corporate rentals come on stream. There may be some fallow years where the market simply can’t meet demand. I’m sure the Government has modelled this and to some extent this has probably helped shape their aspiration to build 1.5m new homes. Pie in the sky of course.
The big losers will be the individual private landlords, the overwhelming majority of whom have between 1 and 4 rental properties. Those who don’t sell up at the right time will likely be forced to do it by the punitive penalties for mistakes that will be part of the Act. Many will face having to accept low offers from buyers or even lower offers from corporate investors, perhaps not even recovering their initial outlay.

Reply to the comment left by Beaver at 05/08/2025 – 17:33
A few years ago, there was an attempt to create a database of bad tenants. Landlords could post the details online. I did it a few times but it never progressed. There were suggestions it was against the DPA, but nothing was ever confirmed to my knowledge. Shame!

You are right in that portfolio landlords can suck up debts to a point, but why should they? Smaller landlords are and will be increasingly vulnerable to reckless tenants. Do the CCJ thing. You’re unlikely to get any money back, but it may just help a future landlord like yourself.

Reply to the comment left by DPT at 05/08/2025 – 19:10
I think you are correct: Implementation of Renters Reform Bill in its present form will increase rents for tenants both in the short term and long term.

Reply to the comment left by Beaver at 06/08/2025 – 10:08
I do not wish to disagree with anyone on 118, but I do wish everyone would cease using the future tense. Rents have already increased in anticipation of the bill. I am now charging 30% more than a few years ago and have tenants queueing for property. That does not mean that I am making more profit, as most is going in tax and increased maintenance costs.

Reply to the comment left by TheMaluka at 06/08/2025 – 11:31
I think we are splitting hairs here and you’re not disagreeing with anybody.

I am only a small portfolio landlord but I have also already increased my rent. This was in response to the fact that I could no longer offset my finance costs against my rents together with the increase in interest rates, and on the basis of advice from my agent.

My agents have changed their advice because they’ve seen what the SNP has done in Scotland with their rent controls, they’ve heard the mood music in England, they’ve seen the proposals in the RRB, and as a consequence of all that the only sensible advice that any agent could give is to increase rents now because you might not be able to do it later.

That’s very different to what they were advising ten years ago.

But ultimately what this all amounts to is that ongoing government interference in the private rental market HAS increased rents, IS increasing rents now, and WILL increase rents even more if the Renters Reform Bill goes through in its present form.

And yes, more of it is going in tax because of George Osborne’s changes: In effect the government is making landlords tax collectors and tenants are paying the extra tax.