England’s overburdened tribunal system is ill-equipped to handle the potential influx of new claims from the Renters’ Rights Bill, according to proptech firm Reapit.

The number of fair or market rent cases before England’s residential property tribunals increased by almost 89%, from 483 to 921 between 2019 and 2023. In March, open cases (yet to be decided) which include rent challenges but also categories such as the Tenant Fees Act and ground rent, exceeded 8,000 – a 144% rise since 2019, highlighting the sharp increase in tribunal caseload, says Reapit.

Under the legislation, landlords will only be allowed to use Section 13 to raise rents once a year, potentially leading to scores more tenants challenging rent hikes.

Despite concerns being raised about court and tribunal services during the second reading of the Renters’ Rights Bill, the government is pushing forward with reforms. However, the Committee of Public Accounts has pointed to slow progress on digitisation and major challenges in integrating systems across courts and tribunals.

Reform

Steve Richmond (main image), general manager of Reapit UK&I, believes more investment and reform to expand court capacity are needed before the Bill becomes law. “Without ramping up funding for our courts and tribunals, frustrations will grow for both tenants and landlords,” he says. “We’re also concerned the government hasn’t fully considered the added costs to courts and tribunals, as no impact assessment has been published.”

A tribunal will often ask to view the property when making a fair or market rent judgement, which adds time and cost to the proceedings. Instead, evidence such as photos and videos submitted digitally should be used to make the decision to reduce costs, suggests Reapit.

It also wants the government to publish a database of market rents, so tenants can check if their rents are close to market rates before they apply to a tribunal and would mean all tribunals worked from the same data.