Rental Reform: What Happens Next?
The Government’s plans on rental reform – published last month – have outlined the biggest changes to England’s private rental market in more than 30 years.
Spanning 82 pages, its long-awaited white paper, entitled A Fairer Private Rented Sector includes commitments to:
- Convert Assured and Assured Shorthold tenancies into periodic tenancies, that can be ended by the tenant with two months’ notice and by landlords with a legitimate reason
- Abolish Section 21 and introduce new possession grounds for landlords
- Extend the Decent Homes Standard to the sector
- Create a new Private Renters’ Ombudsman to settle disputes informally
- Introduce a new Property Portal to support landlords – and link to the rogues database
- Abolish rent review clauses (while retaining the ability to increase rents annually)
- Outlaw blanket bans on renting to families with children or tenants on benefits
- Incentivise landlords to accept tenants with pets
- Reform and speed up the court process.
What does this mean?
The loss of Section 21 has been a long-standing Government commitment and arguably the most controversial proposal.
The NRLA has campaigned long and hard on the issue, stressing the need for a workable alternative to be in place before the provision was axed.
One of the positives to take from the white paper is that the Government is planning to introduce new mandatory grounds for possession for landlords (or their families) who want to move back into a property, sell it or carry out major renovations.
A new mandatory grounds has also been introduced to deal with persistent rent arrears, and the notice period required for serious cases of anti-social behaviour is to be reduced, although much more will be required to help landlords tackle ASB. Crucially, the Government has also agreed with NRLA calls to reform the court system, meaning landlords and tenants can access justice in a timely manner.
Our concerns
While we welcome moves to ensure landlords are able to regain possession of their properties in legitimate circumstances, we do have some concerns over the level of detail provided in the document.
Similarly some grounds, we believe, do not go far enough to protect landlords. The mandatory ground for anti-social behaviour, for example requires a conviction, something that is notoriously difficult to achieve, given the level of evidence needed and time taken for cases to come to court. Likewise, landlords of student properties are virtually ignored by the proposed reforms unless they offer purpose-built accommodation. This is likely to be unworkable and lead to considerable disruption in university towns throughout England.
We will continue to press government for change on these issues.
There are other potential sticking points within the document, including significant issues that could deem proposals unworkable in practice.
This week I met with Clive Betts, chair of the Levelling Up Housing and Communities (DLUHC) Committee, which scrutinises the work of the department and will be examining the white paper in detail. There, I flagged a number of issues, which the NRLA will also be raising at a Ministerial round table on rental reform later this month.
We will be asking ministers to:
- End the anti-landlord rhetoric and back the majority of landlords providing good quality home to rent
- Address issues that will arise in the student market as a result of plans to introduce indefinite tenancies
- Come up with firm principles as to how councils and police can support landlords to tackle anti-social tenants quickly and effectively
- Reform the courts BEFORE Section 21 powers are removed to tackle lengthy waits for possession
- Abolish local licensing once the new property portal is introduced
The association believes that unless these issues are resolved now – while proposed legislation is still under development – they will lead to major problems in the future.
What happens next?
The rental reform document is a white paper, rather than a bill, so the proposals outlined within its pages are not set in stone.
We have been invited to a Ministerial round table to discuss our thoughts on the paper and share our recommendations, before the final Renters’ Reform Bill is tabled, which we expect to see later this year. Even then there will be numerous hurdles for the bill to pass through as it is considered by MPs and Peers.
The association will be running a series on information events for members over the coming weeks, and asking landlords to get involved by writing to their MPs to highlight any concerns. Landlords can visit our news centre and social media channels for more information on how to get involved.
We will also be running a members’ survey on the plans to help us give voice to your concerns.
The Government is committed to abolishing Section 21 and introducing changes in a bid to make the sector fairer to tenants. We will work to ensure this is not at the expense of landlords’ rights.
It is essential ministers get it right on rental reform to encourage landlords to remain in the sector and continue to invest in the homes to let that this country so desperately needs, at a time when demand is hitting record levels.
Blog Post from NRLA
