Eviction and rent collection specialist Landlord Assist is the latest body to be concerned about the private members' bill being introduced by Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather in a bid to control so-called revenge evictions'.
Letting Agent Today yesterday outlined the bill which is backed by the government and which will make it illegal to evict tenants who make justifiable complaints to their landlords. If passed, the Bill will prevent evictions within six months of a tenant requesting a repair.
A recent report stated that 200,000 people suffered from so-called revenge evictions in the last year, whereby landlords have served tenants with eviction notices for requesting repairs to be made to the property.
But Graham Kinnear, managing director of Landlord Assist, says that although revenge evictions are obviously wrong the new bill penalises the majority of landlords by tipping the balance of the eviction process more in favour of tenants who may use the new measures to hold up eviction proceedings against them.
He says the ability to re-possess a property from problem tenants' and launch eviction proceedings against them is an essential right of landlords, especially at a time when demand for rented accommodation is outstripping supply and landlords want to limit the length of void periods.
Stephen Parry, commercial director at Landlord Assist, says: The number of evictions we handle where the landlord wants possession simply because the tenant has made a request for a repair we could count on the fingers of one hand. The vast majority of cases we deal with are due to arrears of rent or anti-social behaviour by the tenant.
But the firm says the new Bill may be beneficial in instances where the local authority inspects the repair needed and agrees that it represents a health and safety issue.
A tenant will occasionally put in a defence to an eviction application that they stopped paying their rent due to a repair being needed at the property despite the landlord not being notified of this matter previously. This new law could mean that such a defence is no longer usable unless the landlord has been made aware or the local authority has inspected and agreed that the repair is required.
The bill is being considered by the House of Commons in November.
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Comments
Since when can a need for a repair of which the Landlord has no knowledge be used as a reason to delay possession proceedings
Presumably
The issue I see is that a large number of tenants desire eviction in order to be re-housed by the council, with the introduction of this bill I can see councils first action being to send in staff to report on the condition of the property and find hazards that need repair!
This is not workable and is yet another example of MPs who are ill-advised seemingly just trying to make a name for themselves and win votes.
The right to evict a Tenant under Section 21 was and is a catalyst in growing the number of buy to let Landlords providing much needed housing in the PRS.
How would one prove a "revenge eviction" Surely a DECENT Tenant living in a sub-standard property where the Landlord will not conduct essential repairs would move to better accommodation rather than challenge an eviction