The Renters’ Reform bill is inching closer…
I don’t know how many times the same promise of legislation can be repeated by Her Majesty but the abolition of no fault evictions (referred to as s.21 possession) has now appeared as a Government promise in the Queen’s Speech which opened parliament in 2019, 2021 and in the speech delivered by HRH Prince Charles on behalf of the Queen on 10th May this year.
Subtle changes on each occasion reflect the thinking that has been going on since the commitment first emerged in the Conservative Party manifesto for the 2019 general election.
Of course, the Government and their officials have been subject to a lot of lobbying. On the landlord side it’s no surprise that they are looking for alternatives to replace s.21 so they can continue to get rid of tenants who haven’t actually done anything wrong. The front runner seems to be the Sales ground. With rents at an all-time high and still rising, one might think that potential buyers would be very happy to purchase with a tenant in situ, so that they get a rental income from Day 1, but the property market still values vacant possession more highly.
We have serious concerns about this possession ground because it will be extremely hard to prove whether the landlord really does intend to sell. After all, circumstances can change and a landlord who put his property on the market with a genuine wish to sell, can then change his mind. The more devious could market the property overpriced, or simply not accept potential offers. By the time the house is re-let by the same landlord, the existing tenant will have left, and perhaps found another home is a different area, and is most unlikely to monitor the position regularly, and to bring a claim if they suspect that the sales ground for possession was used falsely.
The Renters’ Reform Coalition, of which we are a part, has been arguing that if the landlord chooses any ground where the tenant is not as fault, the tenant should be paid a significant sum in compensation.
A new proposal in the current iteration of Renters’ Reform is an Ombudsman for the private rented sector. On the face of it, that looks sensible, but we have serious concerns that this will become the route tenants will be expected to take when they have a genuine legal claim against the landlord. Tenants could seriously lose out financially by taking the Ombudsman Complaint option. This diversion will also take the pressure off the Government to resource the courts adequately and avoid the long delays awaiting hearing dates. It also risks a further erosion of the income for legal aid providers like Advice for Renters. Legal aid contracts, which already have to be subsidised from other income, are about to face a further cut, and there is a very real chance that they will soon become completely unviable, effectively abolishing legal rights for those on low incomes.
There are two brighter spots in the Renters’ Reform proposals. The first extends the Decent Homes Standard which social landlords should comply with, to private landlords. We hope that it will be reviewed first, as it is not entirely appropriate in its current form. The second is referred to as a “new property portal to help landlords understand their obligations, give tenants performance information to hold their landlord to account as well as aiding local authorities”.
This opens the door to our long campaign for a mandatory National Landlords Register, which will require, as a condition of registration, evidence that the property being let is safe. If the Decent Homes Standard is updated and eventually becomes that pre-requisite for registering through the portal, our campaign aims will be met.