What is Happening With the Renters’ Rights Bill?
Our Landlord and Tenant Solicitors are regularly asked, ‘What's happening with the Renters' Rights Bill?’ Questions come thick and fast from worried landlords and anxious tenants.
In this article, our Landlord and Tenant Lawyers provide an update on the progress of the Renters' Rights Bill.
Appointments are available at our offices in central London, by phone, or online consultation.
The Renters' Rights Bill committee stage has concluded
The Renters' Rights Bill has passed the committee stage in the House of Lords. That means it is one step closer to receiving royal assent and becoming law.
The next steps with the Renters' Rights Bill
The Renters' Rights Bill will now pass through these four stages:
- Report stage.
- Third Reading in the House of Commons.
- Royal Assent.
- Implementation.
When will the Renters' Rights Bill be implemented?
No one knows the date the Renters' Rights Bill will become law or the implementation date for its provisions. However, the government has promised to act speedily while also promising landlords that a measured approach to implementation will be taken to give them sufficient time to adjust to the changes.
Many landlords are already asking questions about what will happen to Section 21 notices or possession proceedings midway through the court process on the implementation date.
The government has said:
- The implementation date will be confirmed by secondary legislation.
- The implementation date will give the rental sector time to prepare for changes brought in by the Renters' Rights Bill.
- There will be transitional provisions to protect landlords and tenants.
- The Renters' Rights Bill transitional provisions will give landlords who have served a possession notice three months after the legislation comes into force to apply for a possession order.
Getting ready for the Renters' Rights Bill
Landlords and tenants are getting ready for the Renters' Rights Bill.
Many tenants tell Landlord and Tenant Solicitors that they have been ‘keeping their heads down’ and not reporting repairs in the hope that they can avoid a Section 21 notice before the implementation of the Renters' Rights Bill and the end of Section 21 notices.
Some landlords have issued Section 21 notices because:
- They have decided to sell their rental property portfolio because they anticipate more red tape and expense.
- They perceive a tenant to be a problem tenant and are using a Section 21 notice, while they can do so.
- They want to increase the rent significantly before the implementation of the Renters' Rights Bill and think getting new tenants is the best way to achieve this.
The increase in Section 21 notices has contributed to some of the delays landlords are experiencing in the court handling of possession claims. Worryingly, the government has not given clear or definitive commitments on resourcing first-tier tribunal rent dispute appeals or possession proceedings in the county court. Delays are expected to increase in tribunal and court proceedings after the implementation of the Bill.
Landlord action on the Renters' Rights Bill
All landlords, whether they have an extensive property portfolio or are accidental landlords renting out their own homes, need to prepare for the implementation of the Renters' Rights Bill.
That does not necessarily mean serving Section 21 notices on all tenants or deciding to exit the rental property market.
Our Landlord and Tenant Solicitors say that every Landlord needs to scrutinise their individual situation. Landlords should avoid rushing into decisions that may not make financial sense or that will adversely affect their tenants without good reason.
Many landlords are making decisions about their futures (and their tenants) without a full appreciation of the contents of the Renters' Rights Bill. Some rely on headline news on the Bill and have not taken professional advice from Landlord and Tenant Solicitors or their accountants before issuing Section 21 notices or selling up.
Landlord and Tenant Lawyers emphasise the need to assess the impact of the Renters' Rights Bill on the landlord’s property portfolio and consider how the provisions in the Bill may impact:
- The provisions in their standard tenancy agreement.
- Their policy on tenants asking to keep a pet before or during the tenancy agreement.
- Their landlord insurance and its adequacy.
- Their property repair schedule.
- Their decision to buy certain types of property to add to their property portfolio.
- Their ability to take advance rental payments and how that may impact tenant selection.
- Their ability to conduct right-to-rent checks and knowledge of the implications of getting right-to-rent checks wrong.
Other imponderables include potential changes to capital gains tax on the sale of second homes or rental property, or changes to the income tax treatment of rental income.
The Landlord and Tenant team of experts at OTS Solicitors advises landlords and letting agents on how to prepare for the implementation of the Renters' Rights Bill.
Appointments are available at our offices in central London, by phone, or online consultation.
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