Wednesday (11 September) marked a pivotal moment in Parliament, and a significant milestone for renters across the nation, as the Renters’ Rights Bill had its first reading.
This long-anticipated bill is a significant moment for the private rented sector (PRS), delivering major changes to how the sector functions, and with the power to improve the lives of England’s 12 million private renters. After years of hard work and passionate campaigning from renters groups (including our funded partner the Renters Reform Coalition), there’s no doubt that this is a welcome step forward, and we should celebrate the fundamental change to the private rented sector that this Bill will create.
However, while the Bill includes a lot of positive changes, it isn’t perfect – yet. There are several changes that we think the government should make to the Bill, to ensure it provides the protection renters need. Everyone needs a safe, secure and high-quality home, and we are eager for the government seize this critical opportunity to make that a reality.
What’s in the Bill?
Some of the key changes the Bill proposes are:
- Ending the ability of landlords to evict someone without a reason (and doing this quickly after the Bill becomes law). For renters, this change can’t come fast enough, so we’re very pleased to see that the government won’t delay in ending this practice that not only leaves renters feeling perpetually insecure and in fear of eviction, but also prevents them from challenging bad practice and poor conditions.
- Introducing new ways for landlords to evict a tenant if they want to sell or move themselves or a family member back in. While ‘no reason’ eviction grounds will no longer be accepted, the existing ‘no fault’ eviction grounds will be replaced by new grounds, meaning tenants could continue to be evicted from their home, without having done anything wrong. Now, at least, a landlord will have to give a reason for doing so – either if they want to sell the property or move themselves or a family member back in. We’re concerned about the potential for landlords to misuse these grounds, and our upcoming research into similar tenancy changes that happened in Scotland (due to be published next week) shows that one in five landlords who evict on the grounds that they will sell the property, don’t end up doing so. We’re pleased to see the Bill prohibit the use of these new eviction grounds for the first year of a tenancy, and if a landlord does use the ground after this period, they won’t be able to re-let the property for another year. However, going further, we believe the Bill should be amended to require landlords to prove they really do intend to sell or move back in, for example by providing evidence to the court.
- Increasing notice periods from two to four months. No one wants to face the stress, upset and costs that come with being forced to leave their home without somewhere else to go. That’s why this change is something we and the renters movement have been seeking for some time, as it will give tenants the time needed to find a suitable alternative home.
- Making all tenancies monthly rolling contracts. This gives tenants the ability to stay for as long as they want. They will be protected from eviction using the new ‘no fault’ grounds for a year, but we think this should be increased to two years, to give tenants the chance to put down roots and build fulfilling lives.
- Introducing a private rented sector database (also known as a national landlord register), which will include details of landlords and rented properties. This is a key step to support tenants to understand who their landlord is, ensure landlords prove that their properties are fit to let out, and enable local authorities to enforce standards and legislation properly. We’ll be pushing to make sure all the necessary information is included in the PRS database.
- These are just a few of the significant changes proposed by the Bill, and there’s a lot more that we could mention. This includes applying new regulations around quality and standards (especially Awaab’s law and the Decent Homes Standard), increasing the length of time a tenant needs to be in arrears before they can be evicted from two to three months, introducing a PRS Ombudsman, and banning discrimination against renters with children or in receipt of benefits.
What’s missing?
Much more needs to be done to support tenants to know and use their rights, and ensure new regulations are enforced effectively. We’re pleased to see that the government will allow tenants to seek compensation in the form of repaid rent from landlords if they evict them unlawfully. But our forthcoming research into similar tenancy changes in Scotland (more next week!) tells us that it is one thing for a renter to have more rights, but another thing entirely for them actually to use them.
Any new regulation must be accompanied by sufficient funding for local authorities to properly enforce the regulation, otherwise it has little impact. And local authorities must be supported to deliver enforcement effectively. We welcome the Bill’s introduction of a requirement for local authorities to report their enforcement activity to the government, and the ability of regional authorities to support with joined up approaches to enforcement, but think a lot more is needed for this legislation to have a real impact on renter’s lives. We’ll be pushing the government to do more and set out what additional support it intends to provide to local authorities.
We also welcome the Bill’s banning of bidding wars for renting a property, and preventing rent being raised more than once a year and only to the ‘open market rent’. But we know that this won’t address the crisis in private renting affordability. Much more needs to be done to provide more genuinely affordable homes, including social housing. Affordability problems in the PRS cannot be addressed in a vacuum, and we need a joined-up housing strategy.
What next?
The Bill will now start making its progress through parliament, and we’ll be working alongside our partners every step of the way to make sure the Bill is the strongest it can be. Next week, we’ll be publishing the final report on our five-year research into similar Scottish tenancy reforms, which provides key insights which the government must learn as it delivers reform in England.
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