Landlords are bracing themselves for the impact of a ban on Section 21 after the government published its Renters’ Rights Bill.
Introduced to Parliament today, the revamped Bill is being touted as ‘historic legislation to level the playing field between tenants and landlords’. The ban on no-fault evictions is understood to be on course to come into effect next summer at the earliest and would abolish Section 21 evictions for both new and existing tenancies at the same time.
It will also extend Awaab’s Law into the PRS and end blanket bans for those on benefits or with children. The Decent Homes Standard will be applied to the private rented sector which the government insists will eliminate unfair competition from those who have got away with renting out substandard properties to tenants.
Other measures introduced in the Bill include a ban on rental bidding wars, with landlords and letting agents legally required to publish an asking rent for their property, a ban on in-tenancy rent increases written into contracts so landlords will only be allowed to raise the rent once a year, and to the market rate, and a new PRS database.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner says renters have been let down for too long and too many are stuck in disgraceful conditions, powerless to act because of the threat of a retaliatory eviction hanging over them. She promised an end to “dither and delay”. Rayner added: “We must overhaul renting and rebalance the relationship between tenant and landlord. This Bill will do just that, and tenants can be reassured this government will protect them.”
Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook has met with landlord and tenant groups and committed to engaging with them as the Bill progresses, to ensure the sector is ready for the changes. However, NRLA chief executive Ben Beadle (right) says it’s vital that the sector gets sufficient time to properly prepare. “Over 4.5 million households will need tenancy agreements updating, letting agent staff and landlords will need to undertake training and insurance and mortgage providers will need to adjust policies and rates. None of this will happen overnight and the government needs to publish guidance,” adds Beadle.
Tenants’ groups including the Renters’ Reform Coalition welcomed the new law but called for more protections around rent increases in tenancies. Ben Twomey, chief executive of Generation Rent, says: “We remain vulnerable to backdoor rent-hike evictions. The proposed blanket ban on landlords pitting tenant against tenant in bidding wars cannot come soon enough, but if landlords are allowed to continue with unchecked and unaffordable rent rises, thousands more of us will still be forced into poverty and on to the streets.”
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