The Renters’ Rights Bill has had its first reading in the House of Lords and is due for a full debate on 4th February.

Just a day after finishing in the House of Commons, the Bill was formally read in the Lords, illustrating that the government is determined to pass the legislation as quickly as possible. The first reading in the Lords is just a formality and peers now have the chance to unpick it.

Property lawyer David Smith has previously predicted that Royal Assent will be speedy, and will probably happen in the Spring, and says that judging by the current performance, that timeline seems to be right. While the Bill may change again in the House of Lords, he doubts it will alter much now if the government can possibly avoid it.

Challenges

In his extensive blog, Smith outlines the main challenges such as the new additional provision to ban rent in advance and the way in which the Tenant Fees Act changes are written, prohibiting accepting money before the agreement is entered into.

“There will now be a potential risk for all landlords that they will have to hand over the keys to a tenant only to find that the initial rental payment will not clear and the tenant will fall into arrears immediately,” he explains.

Nightmare

“The nightmare scenario here is that a tenant might sign an agreement with a move in date for a week later, pay the rent and deposit, have that money fail to clear, and then still demand and be entitled to move in because the contract specifies that they are entitled to possession.”

Smith believes that while many of these changes will not really be seen until the entire Bill has been passed and brought into effect, it could be years before all the impacts are seen. However, he adds: “There is plenty here for the PRS to be worried about.”

‍