The Renters’ Rights Bill is not anti-landlord says KC

The Renters’ Rights Bill is not anti-landlord says KC

9:11 AM, 19th March 2025, About a month ago 30

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Many landlords are upset and concerned at the legal changes being brought in by the Renters’ Rights Bill. Some landlords take the view that the government is actively hostile towards landlords and that the bill is an exercise in malice.

At the recent Renters’ Rights Bill Conference run by Landlord Law on 11 and 12 March, headline speaker Justin Bates KC discussed this.

His view was that the government’s main concern with the bill was to right various problems in society, such as the huge number of tenants being evicted, which is putting strain on council finances and the ever-increasing rents, which are unaffordable for many tenants. Rents paid through benefits are also ultimately covered by all of us through our taxes.

I publish below an extract from the talk where Justin explains all this.  Elsewhere in the talk, he also points out that if the government had really been anti-landlord, they would not have agreed to include eviction grounds 1 and 1A.

The conference also included talks on dealing with rent arrears, student lets, the new eviction rules, rent repayment orders and the new local authority enforcement powers. We hope to make the recordings from the conference available as a course shortly.  If this interests you, sign up to the Landlord Law Bulletin and you will be notified when it is available.


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Cathie

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10:02 AM, 19th March 2025, About a month ago

"the government’s main concern with the bill was to right various problems in society, such as the huge number of tenants being evicted, which is putting strain on council finances and the ever-increasing rents"

Um, sorry I thought those issues were caused by the govt. anti-landlord policies.

JB

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10:03 AM, 19th March 2025, About a month ago

Another clueless person!
We know homelessness will bankrupt councils but the government's response is exactly the wrong one. You cannot blame landlords for the cost of renting. Has he looked at the cost to landlords of letting a property?
Show us your calculations

Small Portfolio Landlord

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10:38 AM, 19th March 2025, About a month ago

The real intention of the RRB is to reduce the number of tenants seeking social housing and people requiring short-term accommodation by ensuring that whatever the reason, they can't be evicted from the PRS very easily. They're not bothered about ASB's or arrears - that's our problem.
Through the media, we're painted as rich fatcats bellying up to the trough because they don't want to point out that the real issue is a failure in government.
There are already enough laws in place to protect tenants, but there is a complete lack of interest in using them.
There is no intention of dealing with rogue landlords properly either as by keeping them in the public eye and not kicking them out, they can use the excuse to find more ways to tax decent landlords.
Quite simply, our governments have for a long time failed with their fiscal policies and they find excuses to tax anyone who has been successful (unless you're really rich when you're allowed to do as you like).
The trick is to keep us buying more property whilst raising more money through us without pushing us over the line when we all sell up. The pendulum has swung very clse to that point and as is seen through history they will keep going until it's gone way past and then the country will be bankrupt.

northern landlord

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10:41 AM, 19th March 2025, About a month ago

Once upon a time, many ordinary people who came into some money by cashing in pensions, or via insurance payouts and inheritance would buy a property to rent. It was a good investment. It is now too risky it is better to leave the cash in the bank.
Banning Section 21 is no magic bullet it won’t stop the rot. The current spate of section 21 evictions is largely fuelled by these ordinary landlords wanting to sell up so they can exit the PRS and escape increasing costs and more onerous regulations coming down the line. Once Section 21 evictions are banned those landlords wanting to get out will continue to leave the PRS using Section 1A.
As 1 and 1A are supposed to be mandatory grounds there should be no need for court appearances. The whole process could be done online for a fixed fee avoiding costly court time but that would favour the landlord so that won’t happen.

Grumpy Doug

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10:45 AM, 19th March 2025, About a month ago

Fails miserably to understand the difference between cause and effect. Same as all our politicians.
Let me help you Justin :-
Effect - "... the huge number of tenants being evicted, which is putting strain on council finances and the ever-increasing rents, which are unaffordable for many tenants."
Cause - 10 years of incessant Govt meddling in a previously well functioning market that provided choice to consumers and a healthy competition between suppliers.
Justin, can I suggest that you speak to people who have experienced proper life, not privileged North London lefty dinner parties populated with PPE graduates and the like.
PS, unlike my tenants, I have a choice. Make it too hard or unprofitable for me to do what I do, I will just sell up and enjoy watching the PRS car crash from a sunny beach somewhere.

Stella

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11:27 AM, 19th March 2025, About a month ago

This is mind boggling.

These "experts" choose to ignore what it was really like pre 1988 rent act. and are happy to make the same mistakes again.

Property for rent was virtually non- existent and unless you were first in the queue there was no chance of getting a place to live and then it would probably be a bedsit in a house with very few amenities and where the landlord would be living on the premises.
Yes the regulated tenant was sitting pretty only paying a low rent and was there for life but if you were a family looking to rent a flat or a whole house it was vitually impossible to find.

With the massive housing shortage we have today, millions of migrants and a population increase of over 12 million since we last had these draconian laws how can they possibly think that getting rid of section 21 and overregulation of the housing market will solve the housing problem.

Cider Drinker

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11:37 AM, 19th March 2025, About a month ago

How does evicting tenants put a strain on Council finances?

If a tenant is evicted (often with good reason despite the use of Section 24), the property doesn’t simply sit empty. It’s used by another, hopefully better, family.

For those in temporary accommodation, the RRB will reduce the chance of them ever finding a place to call home.

TheMaluka

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13:06 PM, 19th March 2025, About a month ago

Tessa, the Renters Rights Bill is just another rusty nail in an already well sealed coffin. No rhetoric will alter that situation.

Cause For Concern

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15:04 PM, 19th March 2025, About a month ago

The threat of RRB introduction has caused me to stop re-letting property as it becomes empty and to issue S21 notices to the 25 tenants I had in occupation. Now selling up the vacant property.
This is how the govt, pressure groups such as Shelter, Generation Rent and associated lefty do-gooders are solving the housing crisis - by removing much needed housing from ordinary working people who were paying below market rents and enabling corporate investors and rich families to move in instead. Clever boys and girls.
No landlords, no rented housing…simple.

DPT

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15:41 PM, 19th March 2025, About a month ago

Unfortunately Mr Bates assertion doesn't square with the other evidence in the Bill, such as
- the punitive penalties for what are essentially admin errors;
- the increase in the qualifying arrears period for s8 g8 notices;
- the prohibition on re-letting for 12 months if you evict a tenant to sell up, but don't get any offers you can accept. This effectively traps landlords for a year with no way to mitigate their costs, such as mortgage, double Council Tax, service charges etc;
- rent increases only taking effect from the date of Tribunal determination if challenged.
- the unnecessary restrictions on the use of ground 4A in student lets.
Etc, etc.

This Government is seeking to punish landlords, who it sees as the children of Thatcher with their noses in the trough

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