Rental Reform White Paper For Spring
It’s now been made clear that there will be a detailed White Paper in the spring explaining radical changes to the private rental sector.
It had originally been thought that the Levelling Up White Paper released last week was the mechanism for the government to set out its reform agenda for renters.
The Levelling Up document had plenty of housing issues within it. These included insisting landlords ensure their private rental properties meet the Decent Homes Standard – originally designed for social housing – and plans to end Section 21 repossessions, consult on a national register of landlords and develop plans to better tackle rogue landlords.
However it now appears that a Rental Reform White Paper is still regarded as necessary to set out the processes and consultations required to fulfil the broad brush renting objectives mentioned in the levelling up document.
Housing minister Eddie Hughes, speaking at the Conservative party conference back in October, suggested that his teams were still in discussions to avoid what he called “unintentional consequences.”
The White Paper would not be issued until all stakeholders had a chance to contribute, he said.
Waiting until spring is merely the latest delay. The specialist White Paper was originally scheduled for last autumn, then winter and then the New Year.
Some parties to the White Paper are growing impatient.
The Generation Rent group of activists have tweeted: “The government knows it is impossible to level up without fixing the rental market. Renters were promised an end to Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions nearly 3 years ago. The gov must finally fulfil this promise and grant tenants security in their homes.”
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