The Bill was initially promised in 2019 however no further action was ever taken on it, But, on the 11th of September 2024 it has since been updated and has made its 1st appearance in Parliament to be implemented as Law. The Bill proposes to improve tenant’s right in several different ways which will cause issues for landlord’s who are not prepared to deal with the changes. We have listed some of the proposed changes below and how these will affect you as a landlord.
The Main Change- The Banning of No-Fault Evictions
This will mean that when landlords are wanting to evict a tenant, they will need to rely on one of the grounds under the Housing Act 1988. This is a more costly and lengthier process compared to going through a no-fault eviction. In addition, most of the grounds relied upon will render the tenant as being intentionally homeless and as such the council will not have a duty to house them meaning the tenant will have no choice but to defend the proceedings. We advise that anyone who is potentially looking to evict a tenant on a no-fault basis do this soon rather than later.
Changes to Ground 8
At the moment as long as there is 2 months’ worth of arrears at service of the notice and at the hearing of the possession claim then landlords can rely on the mandatory ground 8 for obtaining possession of the property back. However, under reforms this will increase from 2-3 months (or from 8 to 13 weeks). This will mean that landlord will have to wait longer and allow tenants to incur more rent arrears before they can rely on this mandatory ground for possession. Landlords who have previously taken to tenant to court for this reason will know that as long as the tenants get the rent arrears at least £1 under the required amount will not be able to rely on this ground further, in addition they will know that there are often when they do not get the rent back due to the tenant being unable to pay. Thus, with the increase this will result in landlord potentially losing out on an extra month of rent. If any landlords are currently having issues with their tenant’s paying rent we advise you contacting a solicitor to suggest the possible routes you can take now before any changes come into place.
Increase to Notice Periods
The notice period for grounds 8,10 & 11 (grounds relating to rent arrears) are 2 weeks however under the bill this is to increase to 4 weeks. Again, this will cause tenants to potentially incur more arrears before the claim is seen by a judge. With some landlord’s missing out on 4 months-worth of arrears before a 1st If any landlords are currently facing issues with their tenant’s not making payment of rent we suggest contacting a solicitor in order to discuss your options.
Changes to Who You Can Rent to
Some landlords choose to not rent out their properties to those on benefits, those who have children or those who want to have pets. Under the reforms proposed in the Renters Right’s Bill, this will no longer be possible. Landlord’s will not be able to discriminate from those who are working and those on benefits or those who have children. In addition, landlord’s will not be able to unreasonably refuse for tenants to have pets in the property. Landlord’s who want pet friendly properties will no longer have the right to refuse unless they have good reason. For those who want to know what would be considered a reasonable refusal we advise contacting a solicitor to discuss this.
Extension of Awaab’s Law
The law as it stands only applied to social landlord’s however under reforms this will be extended to private landlords. Thus, private landlords will have to investigate hazards within 14 days of being made aware of the issue, fix them within a further 7 and make emergency repairs within 24 hours. Landlord’s who fail to do this can be fined up to £7,000 by local councils and may face prosecution for non-compliance. Any landlord’s who have been notified of any disrepair by their tenant’s we advise getting this investigated and if appropriate for works to be undertaken. If any landlord’s have issues regarding tenant’s not allowing access or being responsible for the disrepair, we advise you get in touch to discuss your options.
The reforms under the Renters rights bill are not limited to the above and landlords should be aware of all the possible changes and how these may affect them and their tenant’s. The bill is still in its early stages and if passed, a date/ dates will be given as to when these changes will come into place however for any landlord’s facing current issues with their tenant’s we suggest that they contact a solicitor sooner rather than later in order to see whether this is something that should be resolved now in order to stop any further issues arising as a result of the reforms.
Written by Leah Nelson – Head of Housing Department at Alison Law Solicitors
