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Category: renters reform bill
The Renters Reform Bill (RRB) received its second reading in the House of Lords on 15th May. Details were shared on the overhaul of the courts, ahead of the Section 21 abolition and carried some refreshing and positive sentiments towards landlords from the Conservatives.
Baroness Swinburne, the Under Secretary of State for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spoke favourably and on more than one occasion on the positive contribution of good landlords, amongst the resounding support for tenants which typically tend to dominate all political discussions.
Her opening comments firstly spoke in support of tenants:
For England’s 11 million tenants, representing some 4.6 million private rented sector households, the Bill provides the robust protections needed to increase security and standards, helping people to put down roots in their communities, keep jobs and build careers in their local areas.
But this was balanced with the following for landlords:
We are also supporting England’s 2 million landlords and recognising the importance of privately rented homes to our economy. The Bill will give good landlords the confidence to let their properties, equipping them with the tools needed to charge a fair rent and reclaim their properties when they need to, while driving out rogue and bad actors who undercut the majority.
When various parties expressed disappointment that it was taking too long for Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions to be stopped, Baroness Swinburne again gave a nod to decent landlords, expressing that landlords should be encouraged to stay in the sector.
With so many other messages in the media and in politics favouring only tenants, this may be welcomed by the landlord community:
We remain committed to abolishing Section 21 as quickly as possible. However, we should be clear that delivering a smooth transition to the new system is essential so that tenants understand their rights and landlords have the confidence to remain and invest in this important sector. That is why we have committed to ensuring that county courts are ready to deal with our tenancy reforms so that landlords and tenants can benefit from a modern, efficient possession system.
For the vast majority of landlords who provide a quality service, the ombudsman will have the power to protect them by dismissing vexatious, malicious or unfounded complaints.
Although many landlords will undoubtedly scoff at her remark that:
The Bill will give good landlords the confidence to let their properties, equipping them with the tools needed to charge a fair rent and reclaim their properties when they need to…
Despite her assertion that Section 8 eviction grounds are being strengthened with this in mind.
Railing against requests that Section 21 should be abolished as soon as the RRB receives Royal Assent, Baroness Swinburne explained that there is too much secondary legislation that needs to be resolved to make this possible.
Changes to the courts process
Baroness Swinburne described steps being taken to improve the court process for evictions. She explained that the existing analogue system is being updated at present, to help deal with increased number of new Section 8 evictions that will result from the RRB.
She also explained that £11 million is being invested to produce a digital architecture for a “new, fully digitised system”.
There was strong feeling from Labour peer Lord Adonis that this sum of money was not nearly enough. He was heavily dismissive that achieving dramatic improvements to the current county court timeframes of 52.3 weeks for small claims and 78.2 weeks for multi-fast track claims would be possible with these measures.
Several of those involved in the RRB debate asked for a timeline from Baroness Swinburne for removal of Section 21, and she has said she will try to deliver this ‘over the coming weeks’.
Also discussed
Other matters covered during the debate brought the good news and reassertion that the Tories do not support rent controls.
On a question around the cost of the new PRS Housing Ombudsman Scheme, Baroness Swinburne confirmed that landlords will be responsible for funding it. She referenced that social landlords do so within their sector, paying £5.75 per unit for membership. However a specialist and separate housing court, which had been called for by some parties, will not be introduced.
Following on from Commercial Trust’s coverage on government responses around the changes to rules around tenant pets, Baroness Swinburne said that landlords will be given 48 days to respond to a pet request, to stop indefinite delays to responses and this will not be shortened to 28 days, as had been requested by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage, for the opposition.
There were a number of voices asking for Awaab’s law, which applies to the social housing sector, to be imposed on the PRS. This law arose and is named after Awaab Ishak, a two year old boy who died as the result of exposure to mould, whilst living in a home in the social housing sector.
Awaab’s law requires social landlords to begin investigating health hazards within 14 calendar days and produce a report outlining timeframes to remedy the issue by the end of that timeframe. It also requires repair work to begin within 7 calendar days, if the hazard represents a significant threat to tenant health.
This proposal was rejected by Baroness Swinburne, who agreed that no-one should be exposed to such awful living conditions, but referenced that where social landlords typically have large teams of maintenance staff available to them to resolve such issues, private landlords do not. She outlined that the chosen measure to tackle this is instead to give councils tougher enforcement measures to use against private landlords (an immediate fine of up to £5,000).
Also debated was making the RRB work for students and student landlords, with various parties pointing to the fact that not all courses subscribe to a traditional academic year, master’s degree courses for example spanning 15 months.
Baroness Swinburne explained that the new ground for possession that had been introduced, dealt with this issue. It had been added after consulting with the student housing sector, to resolve problems a previous structure would have introduced. She said this would give a ‘backstop for the majority of students studying from September’. She explained that if this ground were allowed to be used at any time, as proposed by some, it ‘would give tenants no certainty’.
Another matter, as yet unresolved, is around the move to restrict tenants from serving notice within the first six months of a tenancy. It has been flagged that this may cause vulnerable tenants harm. Victims of domestic abuse, tenants living with health hazards and the death of a tenant were all recognised as being amongst the extreme circumstances that may need an exemption. Baroness Swinburne confirmed that an exemption for these and similar issues are being explored.
As the RRB progresses further through the political system, Commercial Trust will continue to follow this story and bring our readers and clients updates.
Follow the link to read the full transcript of the debate.
